Baby Steps
by kaitlyn hudgens
Summary: "We had the sexiest, most wild, roughest, fastest, hottest sex ever. And then I woke up. And I still felt like I'd just gotten over my orgasm. Let me tell you, it was the best fake sex of my life, so thank you, Chad Danforth, for fake rocking my world."
1. Chapter 1

She's never been good with showing my emotions. She doesn't show any emotion towards anybody, no matter how good or bad their situation is. She's really never been in any serious situation with anybody to really show emotion, except for the few family deaths that she's had, but she didn't even know those people so why should she feel remorse for someone that never bothered to come around her? Sure; she could have gone around them, but she didn't even know they existed, so why should she have felt bad about that?

Her name is Sharpay Rockelle Evans. Yes, Rockelle. Her mother's bright idea. Nifty, huh? If you make any jokes about it, you'll go through hell. And don't even think about calling her Rocky. Only one person calls her Rocky, and that's Troy. _Gabriella's _Troy. He was her Troy first. She's known him for the twenty-one years they've been alive. Gabriella's only known him for the seven years that she's been in Albuquerque. Well, technically, she's not in Albuquerque anymore. She lives in California with Troy. They're both in their junior years of college. She's going to Stanford. Yeah, one of those smart schools. For geniuses. While Sharpay can't stand Gabriella, she's amazingly smart. And pretty. No, not pretty. _Gorgeous._ Why couldn't she be gorgeous? She thought she was cute, at most. Not gorgeous.

While Troy and Gabriella had been in school in California, Sharpay had been in New York, trying to find herself. Things didn't go her way, what with Boi being the one wanted on Broadway, living in an apartment smaller than her shoe closet, and being closed up in a closet with a tongue–which was _the most uncomfortable bed I've ever had to sleep on in my whole twenty and three-quarters years_, she complained to Ryan over the phone. Ryan had gone to Julliard with Kelsi. While they were there, they started dating, and were expecting their first baby any day now. Sharpay couldn't stand little kids, but she was excited about becoming and aunt and a little disappointed that she wouldn't get to see the baby very often until Ryan and Kelsi had graduated. She could always make the trip out there–which she definitely would–as long as it wouldn't interfere too much with her job.

After she came home from New York, she talked to Mrs. Darbus and Principal Matsui about getting her job as an assistant drama teacher. When they said it wasn't available anymore, they suggested her take the position as the glee club instructor, since the previous one was hospitalized. She took it, and was given the job permenantly when the other glee club instructor had resigned. Sharpay had just gotten Matsui to make the glee club an actual class, so the kids could get credit for their hard work and amazing talent.

Even though she was still the same person, Sharpay had changed a lot. She wasn't as demanding, she didn't have to have everything designer, she wasn't as big a diva, and she actually found that she _could_ care for other people as much as she wanted without seeming like a wimp. When she was in New York, she met Peyton. Peyton was a film major that she'd taken a liking to. When she moved back to Albuquerque, Peyton stayed behind to finish his last year of college, and promised that he'd move out to Albuquerque so they'd be able to see each other. They both compromised on keeping a long distance relationship, and so far it was going pretty good.

"Sharpay!"

Sharpay's head shot up from the score sheet she'd been looking at, and she let out a small breath, getting up from her seat. School started in about five minutes, and she was waiting for her class to get seated. She walked to the door and peered into the hallway. "Who called me?"

A knock came from a locker next to the doorway. "Help, please…"

With a flick of her wrist, Sharpay opened the locker and sighed. "Who did it this time?" she asked as a thin, freckled boy with glasses stepped out of the locker.

"Tiara's boyfriend."

"Come with me," she said, walking down the hallway.

"You're not gonna go talk to them, are you?"

"No. I'm going to a higher power."

"Coco Versace?"

Sharpay laughed. "It's CoCo _Chanel_, and no. Principal Matsui."

"Come on, Sharpay, if you go to him then Tiara's going to get her boyfriend to torture me the rest of my high school life," he said as they entered the principal's office.

"Jordan, I'm most certain that Bradley will be graduated by then."

"Have you _seen_ his school work? Pre-schoolers are smarter than him.

Sharpay grinned a little and she knocked on a door with Principal Matsui's name on it.

"Come in," he said.

Sharpay opened the door and raised an eyebrow, putting her hand on her hip, looking at the boy with an East High letterman jacket on, sitting in a chair across from Matsui's desk. "Oh, goodie. Just the boy I was looking for."

"What did I do?" Bradley asked.

"Principal Matsui, Mr. Thomas here locked Jordan Haskell in a locker. _Again_. Something had to be done about this, I won't tolerate my students being bullied."

"Bradley is being suspended for a number of things already," Matsui said.

"Add one more thing to the list. When you get back in school, I _will_ be watching you like a hawk, Bradley."

"I'll be keeping an eye on you too, Mrs. Evans," Bradley said with a smirk.

"Mrs. Evans is my mother. I'm not married."

"Good, that means I got a shot."

"Not on your death bed. Matsui, please? Something. Jordan can't spend his whole life stuffed in a locker."

"Something will be done, Sharpay," Matsui said.

"Thanks."

Sharpay led Jordan out of the office and she slowed her pace when they got to the hallway, putting her arm around him. "How you been, Kiddo? Mom still doing good?"

"Yeah. She didn't slip this time. I think she's really trying this time."

"That's good. How about your dad?"

"Still haven't heard from him. He doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Well, that's his loss. He should be proud to have such an amazing kid. I know I'd be honored if I had a son like you."

"I'm a skinny nerd that gets picked on every day. Why would you want a kid like me?" Jordan asked, looking up at Sharpay.

"True. But you know, I happen to know a skinny nerd that _I_ used to pick on. You know what she went on to do?"

"What?"

"She's in her junior year at Stanford, with an amazing boyfriend."

"…I'm not a girl."

"Okay, that's besides the point. I can see you going to Stanford. I can see you having a great girlfriend, that's going to stand by you and love you for you. You're a good kid, Jordan. Don't beat yourself up just because you're smart and have glasses. My point is, the girl I picked on never, ever gave up. She didn't let me get to her. At least, not in front of me. From what I saw, she kept her head held high and stayed herself. She didn't let me get her down, and she kept going. You should do the same."

"I can't imagine you ever being mean," Jordan said as they walked into Sharpay's classroom.

"Well, I was. I was horrible. I was popular, I had it all. I got everything I wanted, except one thing, and I thought that if I didn't have everything, even if I didn't need it, then I wouldn't be able to make myself known. It wasn't enough to me that I was the richest kid in New Mexico. I had to have more than what I had."

"Wow. What was the one thing you didn't have?"

"The guy I liked. I've been best friends with him since we were born."

"Why didn't you have him?"

"Because the girl I picked on got to him first. She was herself. She didn't put on a front. If I'd been myself, then maybe I would have gotten him."

"What made you change?"

Sharpay smiled. "I went to New York and met a guy that I started to really, really like. He's finishing his senior year of college and then he's going to come down here."

"You're still together?"

"Yeah."

"Wow… How'd he make you change, though?"

"Well, because he liked me for me. He didn't care if I was all glammed up. He thinks I'm the mose gorgeous girl in the world, with or without make up on. He thinks I'm funny, he likes my corny jokes, he likes how oblivious I am to the most obvious things. He likes how I freak out over the smallest things, and how I cry when I get too frustrated or irritated, and he makes me feel better. He's an amazing guy."

"I'm glad you found him, Sharpay."

"Thanks, Kiddo," she said with a small smile. Even though Jordan was only thirteen, he was one of the sweetest kids Sharpay had ever met. To be honest, he's her favorite student, and she wouldn't even deny it.

* * *

"God damn… Police, never understand… I hate all of those donut inhaling mother fuckers," Sharpay muttered under her breath as she entered her house. She got pulled over as she was coming off of the on ramp to get on the highway, because she was going too fast. When she actually _did_ get on the highway, she was being tailgated by someone.

_The idiot behind me was on my ass, I couldn't slow down; he would have run into me! I couldn't get into another lane; I was completely boxed in! How the fuck was I the one at fault for speeding, when it was the idiot behind me that was on my god damn bumper! _She expressed to the officer.

The officer retorted back with, _Ma'am, if you curse or yell at me one more time, you'll get a ticket regardless._

She'd always hated police. When she was younger, she was always pulled over by the same cop. Just running her hand over her thigh, or fixing her shirt to show her cleavage, she got away with everything. She sometimes wished she was still like that. But, she'd gained too much respect for herself to go back to her old self.

Sharpay sighed, putting her purse and jacket on the coat rack by the door, and she closed the door behind her, locking it. She looked out the small windowby the door and made sure the kids across the street weren't messing around by her car. She saw a little blue car parked in front of her house that she noticed as she was pulling into the driveway, and she couldn't help but feel like she'd seen it before.

Letting out a small breath, she kicked her shoes off and walked towards the kitchen. She stopped walking when she saw someone in her living room. Her breath hitched in her throat and when she was finally able to breathe, it was labored. She turned towards the living room, just as the person she saw stood up and turned around.

When she realized that it was Peyton, she covered her mouth as tears filled her eyes, and she ran to him, practically jumping into his arms as she threw her arms around him and let out an unexpected rack of sobs.

"Oh my gosh, I've missed you so much," she said as her voice cracked.

"I missed you, too," Peyton said, wrapping his arms around her, kissing her neck.

"How did you get here?"

"I drove."

"That's a long ass drive."

"It was worth it."

Sharpay closed her eyes and she breathed in his scent. "Mm… We should make up for lost time…"

"Yeah? You just got home and you're already wanting sex? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were an addict," he said with a small laugh.

"It's not sex, it's making love. C'mon… It'll be worth it… It's Friday. No school tomorrow… We can take as long as we want… Then, we can order dinner and get drunk, and have that drunken sex you seem to like so much."

"You like it just as much as I do."

Sharpay laughed and nodded. "I do… So? Want to?"

"Anything for my girl."

"I like the sound of that…"

* * *

After their festivities, Sharpay and Peyton decided to go out to the backyard. They were currently on the hammock, swinging gently back and forth, with their hands clasped together and her head on his shoulder.

Sharpay let out a small sigh. "When do you have to go back?"

"Next Friday," Peyton said.

"But, you just got here…"

"I know. We only have eight months left until I'm down here full time. We have Christmas break, Easter break, your birthday."

"You'll already be here for my birthday, it's in the Summer," she said with a snobby tone.

"Well, see; it all works out."

"Hi Sharpay!"

Sharpay glanced up, looking towards the fence and saw Jordan appearing and disappearing. "Hi, Jordan."

"Guess what."

"What?"

"I finally beat my record on Mahjong," he said, hopping up on the fence and jumping down into Sharpay's yard.

"What level are you on?"

"Eighty-seven."

"I'm on a hundred and six, you'll never catch up to me."

"I'm a nerd, I'll find a way."

Sharpay laughed a little. "Jordan, this is Peyton," she said.

"The one you were talking about at school?"

"The same."

"Peyton, this is Jordan. He's one of my students."

"Her _best_ student."

"Hey, now. You're my favorite student, but I wouldn't say my best."

"Thanks. My self esteem was so high until you opened your mouth right there."

Peyton laughed a little at their banter and he held his hand out to shake Jordan's. "It's nice to meet you, Jordan. Haven't been hitting on my girl, have you?" he asked as they shook hands.

"Nuh uh. Bradley does, though."

"Who?"

"He's another student. He's the bully," Sharpay said. "Don't worry, I never take any of his offers. I'm not desperate."

"Coulda fooled me," Jordan said.

"Don't you have a song to learn?"

"I learned it."

"Prove it."

"Come on, it's a girl's song."

"Prove it or fail."

"You can't do that, can she do that?" Jordan asked, looking at Peyton.

"I don't know anything about teaching, dude," Peyton said, putting his hands up in defense.

"Sharpay, come on…"

"Sing or fail, Haskell," Sharpay said.

Jordan sighed. "I want fabulous that is my simple request, all thing fabulous, bigger and better and best, I need a little fabulous to help me get along, I need a little fabulous, is that so wrong," he sang unenthusiastically.

"What the hell?" Peyton said.

"It's a song I sang when I was younger," Sharpay said.

"If he sings that, he's gonna get his ass beat."

"He will not."

"If I were in high school, _I'd_ be the one beating him up."

"If you keep saying he's gonna get beat up, he's gonna get beat up."

"I am not singing that song in front of people," Jordan said.

"What the hell am I, a dog?"

"Well…"

"Don't say it!"

"Isn't there a dog called Shar Pei?" Peyton asked.

"Yes!" She snapped. "There is, and yes, it's how I got my name."

"Why would your mother name you after a dog?"

"She was on drugs."

"You're a crack baby?"

"No. She was so doped up on epidural, I came out a drug addict."


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Sharpay woke up feeling so sick to her stomach, just talking make her throw up. The few times she _had_ talked, was quickly followed by her running to the bathroom. She couldn't even call in sick to work, and Peyton ended up having to do it. A few hours had passed since then and her nausea wasn't nearly as bad as it was at first, and she was finally able to get up and walk around without feeling sick. Right now, she was trying to keep down as much as she could, so she was snacking on saltine crackers and Peyton was attempting to get her to drink some Sprite, but she was being hard headed.

"Sharpay, it'll help keep the crackers down. You have to stay hydrated when you're sick," Peyton said.

"I don't drink soda, it makes you fat," Sharpay said.

"I drink soda all the time, and am I fat?"

"Well, I wasn't gonna say anything…"

"What?"

Sharpay laughed. "Aw, don't be so dramatic. You sounded like me."

"How dare you."

"Okay, that's cold."

"It's payback."

"Just drink your soda."

"If you like it so much, _you_ drink it. I don't drink soda, and I especially don't drink carbonated drinks."

"Why?"

"Because carbonation is made out of little bubbles, and bubbles have air in them. When you swallow carbonation, you swallow air, and when you swallow air you burp, and that is disgusting."

"If you don't burp, you'll combust, Sharpay."

"I don't burp. It's gross so I don't do it."

"That's impossible."

"The impossible is possible."

"…What?"

"I don't know."

Sharpay let out a small breath and she stayed quiet for a few seconds, tapping her nails on the island. "…Peyton? I think I know why I'm sick."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I don't have a fever… I don't really feel fluish and I'm not achey."

"If it's not the flu, what else could it be? I mean, unless you're pregnant, but that…" Peyton stopped short when he saw Sharpay grin and nod. "…You're kidding."

"I don't know. It could be why I'm sick. Morning sickness is killer on some girls."

"Yeah, but you haven't taken a test yet, so how are you going to know for sure?"

"Well, I'll take a test, but it's common sense, Peyton. I'm throwing up but I don't feel sick. I don't have a temperature, and I'm feeling weird movements in my stomach, and I'm kind of late for my period."

"How late?"

"…Two months."

"What! Why wouldn't you tell me something like that!"

"I thought it was normal! Don't yell at me! I do the yelling in this house!"

"I think I have a right to yell when my girlfriend skips two periods and doesn't tell me about the possibility of becoming a father!"

"I wasn't putting two and two together to make four, okay!" Sharpay said, getting down from her chair.

"That's because you think two and two is five!"

Sharpay stared at Peyton and she crossed her arms. "Peyton, I'll let you make jokes about me, and I'll let you make fun of me about certain things, but I will _not_ let you call me stupid. I'm _far_ from stupid, okay? Just because I'm a 'typical' blonde, doesn't mean I'm an idiot!"

"I didn't call you an idiot!"

"You insinuated it!" She shouted, starting for the stairs.

"Sharpay, calm down and stop being a drama queen!"

Sharpay stopped and she turned around, glaring at him. "You used to _like_ the fact the I'm a drama queen! You used to love everything about me, because I'm being myself when I'm being like this! Were you lying then, or are you lying now!"

"About what!"

"About loving me!"

"I never lied! I love you for who you are, but I _don't_ love how upset you get over the dumbest things!"

"They aren't dumb things to me, Peyton! Whether it was just a joke or not, it hurt! I don't take joking around when it comes to insulting me lightly! I've been made fun of my whole life! I'll take it from the asses from school because I can _destroy_ them, I'll take it from my parents because I _have_ to, but I will _not_ take it from the love of my life!"

"Troy's not even here, what the hell does he have anything to do with this!"

Sharpay let out a rack of sobs. "I was talking about _you_!" She shouted before running upstairs.

* * *

After her fight with Peyton, Sharpay went to Chad's house. When everyone went to college, she and Chad became really good friends. Even when she was in New York they kept in touch. She never thought in a million years that she and Chad would be friends–let alone _best_ friends. Right now, she and Chad were in his mother's kitchen. They were _supposed_ to be helping her cook dinner, but instead they were throwing things at each other.

"Ew!" Sharpay said as a tomato flew down her shirt. "Good going, you're lucky I'm not making you get it out," she said, putting her hand down her shirt.

"Hey, that's territory I don't wanna be caught in," Chad said. "You have a boyfriend, that's disrespectful."

"You better not be reaching down any article of clothing that's on her body," Mrs. Danforth said.

"Mom, come on."

"He wouldn't get that far, Mrs. D. I'd kill him before he had the chance," Sharpay said.

"Yeah, she'd pink me to death."

"Don't diss the pinkage," she said, throwing an olive at Chad.

"You two get out of my kitchen," Mrs. Danforth said.

"Come on, we're having fun!"

"You're making a mess, now get out before I make you clean it."

"See ya," she said, walking out of the ktichen. She made her way upstairs to Chad's bedroom and she smiled, seeing a picture they'd had done a few months ago at a photo shoot. She hadn't been in his room in a while, so seeing it was a shock and a nice surprise. She looked over to his nightstand and saw another picture of them, but they were around a year old, laying next to each other and laughing.

She laughed a little and sat on his bed. They used to be really good friends when they were little. When they hit junior high, Sharpay started acting like a complete and total bitch. That was the old her, though. She'd never go back to being like that. She promised herself. She swore on her future children.

"Get off my bed, you'll give it your girl cooties," Chad said, walking into the room.

"Whatever, don't boss me around," Sharpay said.

"So, are you ever gonna tell me what happened between you and Golden Boy?"

Sharpay let out a small breath and she laid down on his bed when he did, and she cuddled up to him. "It was mostly me overreacting… But, we got into an argument and I said something about putting two and two together and he said 'well that's because you think two and two is five'," she said in a mocking tone. "It pissed me off and I started crying, so I ran away."

"Two whole houses away from home, you're a rebel."

"Funny."

"What caused you to get into a fight?"

"I was really sick this morning and I told him that I think I might be pregnant, and that I missed my period the last two months and he started yelling at me for it."

"Oh. Wow. Are you?"

"Am I, what?"

"Are you pregnant?"

"Yeah… I took a test before I came over."

"Well, is it a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Both, I guess," she said, shifting into a comfortable position. "I mean, we got into a fight over it, so it's not really a good thing. But, a baby is a gift, and I've wanted kids since I _was_ a kid."

"Well, then be happy about it. I know you weren't planning it, but if you're going to have a baby, then you should live it up. Have the time of your life with it."

Sharpay sighed and she stayed silent for a few seconds before looking at Chad. "You're the bestest friend ever, Afro Boy…"

"You're the bestest friend ever, too, Ice Queen."

* * *

Sharpay sighed, sitting down on the couch, grabbing her cell phone off of the coffee table. She's spent the night at Chad's house last night, but she came home just a few minutes ago. She needed to talk to Peyton, and she had to go home to get some of her music scores done, so she decided to just go home while she wasn't angry. If she kept thinking about their blow out, she'd be rude the rest of the day.

She opened her cell phone and dialed Ryan's number, twirling her hair around her finger as she waited for an answer.

"_Hello?"_

Sharpay smiled. "Hey, Kelsi… Is Ryan there?"

"_Hey, Shar. He's not here, he just went to class. Anything I can help you with?"_

"Oh… No, it's nothing. Tell him I called?"

"_I know something's going on, Sharpay. What's wrong?"_

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong. I just… It's nothing. I just needed to tell Ryan something," she said as her voice cracked.

"_Why are you crying?"_

"No reason, I… I just miss him."

"_Well, if it helps, he misses you, too. He's always talking about you."_

"Really?"

"_Yeah… Look, I'll tell him you called. I'll have him call you at lunch time."_

"Okay. Thanks."

Sharpay hung the phone up and she ran her hand through her hair, letting her tears slide down her cheeks. She really did miss Ryan. She wanted to cuddle with him. She wanted to sing cheesey showtunes with him. She wanted to _argue_ with him. She just wanted him at home with her.

"Hey," Peyton said, walking into the living room.

Sharpay looked at him for a few seconds. "Hey," she said, sniffling.

"…What's wrong?"

"I miss Ryan…"

"Call him."

"I did. He's not home."

"You're crying because your brother's not home?"

"No, I'm crying because…"

Peyton looked at Sharpay for a few seconds and he sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her. "You can tell me," he said, kissing her head.

Sharpay let out a sob and she buried her face into his chest. "I miss him… I really, really miss him. I've never been away from him for this long, and I want him back home so we can do the things we used to be able to do together."

"This isn't just about missing your brother, Shar… What's going on?"

Sharpay sniffled and she looked at Peyton for a few seconds. "…I'm pregnant…"

Peyton drew in a breath. "Wow…"

"Please don't be mad… Please, Peyton, I can't handle you being mad at me for having _your_ baby…"

"I'm not… But, we have to figure out a way to deal with this. We have to figure out what we're gonna do."

"Well, I have my job. Supporting the baby wouldn't be a problem, and I'm sure you'll be able to find a job before it's born… You just move in here with me, so we don't have to look for another house to buy, and it saves us more money, because two more rent payments and I own this place. We have a reliable babysitter for when we have to work. I mean, if he'll agree to it. He'll be done with school by the time the baby comes, so if it's okay with him, we're all set."

"Wait, who is this babysitter?"

"Chad."

"Who?"

"Oh, you haven't met him yet… He's my bestest best friend in the whole entire world. Other than Ryan. I'll make him come over later today and you can meet."

"I'd rather Boi babysit."

"Oh my god, where is he?"

"I don't know."

"Boi!" Sharpay shouted, standing up from the couch. "Boi, come to Mommy!" she said, walking out of the room.

"And to think I'd be done with the yelling after the dog dies, and a kid comes along," Peyton said to himself. "This should be interesting… and loud."


	3. Chapter 3

Two weeks later, Sharpay was back at school and Peyton was back in New York. She didn't like that she was in her house alone again, but she was dealing with it. She'd gotten word that Troy and Gabriella were in town for a visit during their break, and she was nervous about running into them. She hadn't really spoken to either of them since they'd left for college, and even though she and Troy had known each other for the twenty years they've been alive, she was still nervous about running into him for some reason. Right now, she was on her front porch, playing with Boi and enjoying the nice weather. It was rare that Albuquerque had perfect weather like this.

As Sharpay kissed Boi's head, she saw a car pull up by her lawn, but she didn't pay attention to it. The neighbors always had friends parking in front of her house. She'd complained before, and even went as far as asking the police to do something about it, but since it wasn't against the law, there was nothing they could do. In just three months, however, she would _own_ her house and they'd have no choice but to move their grimy, ugly cars from in front of her house because technically, it would have been her property.

"Hey, stranger."

Sharpay looked up, hearing a familiar voice and she saw Troy starting up the lawn. Boi jumped from her arms and ran to him, and she watched at Troy picked him up, ruffling his fur. "Hey, Boi, how ya been? Your momma still dressing you in drag, huh?"

"It's not drag, it's just pink," Sharpay said.

"Hey, any boy that wears pink is obviously whipped by a woman."

"Any guy that's involved with a brainiac that can talk him into anything is _pussy_ whipped."

Troy pursed his lips and nodded, sitting next to Sharpay on the porch. "Good one."

Sharpay looked over to Troy's car, and she saw Gabriella getting something in the backseat. She was surprised to see that when Gabriella retracted from the backseat, a baby was on her hip. "Holy crap, who's the kid?"

"His name's Zander."

"Are you babysitting?"

"No, I'm parenting."

Sharpay looked at Troy, then to Gabriella, who was making her way up the lawn, then the baby, then back to Troy. "You two had a baby? And I wasn't told? How rude."

"I was told that you'd been called and told _personally_, but I guess I know now to do it myself," Gabriella said, standing the baby up on the ground.

"He's cute. How old is he?"

"Thirteen months," Troy said.

"_Fifteen_ months," Gabriella corrected.

Sharpay looked at Troy for a few seconds. "Okay, that's sad, Bolton," she said, standing up from the porch.

"Hey, I have had many sleepless nights," Troy said, following her inside the house.

"Not as many as Gabriella."

"How would you know that?"

"Troy, everyone knows that unless you're a single father, or the mother's a shitty person, the mother always ends up staying up with the baby for hours past the time you should be asleep for school or work."

"That's true, I do stay up with him more than you do," Gabriella said, walking into the house with Zander holding onto her finger.

"Hey, it's not my fault that he prefers you over me," Troy said, sitting on the couch as they walked into the living room.

"Oh, that is the lamest excuse in the book," Sharpay said, sitting next to Troy and hugging him. "I missed you, Sport."

"I missed you, too."

"Dada," Zander said, toddling over to Troy.

"You can talk?" Sharpay said, looking at Zander. "You're two feet tall, you shouldn't be able to talk or walk yet."

"Mine," he said, pointing to Troy.

"He was mine first," she said, tickling Zander's belly, making him laugh.

Troy laughed a little and he picked Zander up. "Zander, this is Sharpay. Can you say hi?"

"No. Mine," Zander said, pushing Sharpay off of Troy.

Sharpay looked at Zander for a few seconds. "You know, we're not gonna get along very well if you start pushing me around, kid."

"Dada mine."

"Okay, Mister Bolton. You're in my house. My house, my rules."

"No, mine."

Sharpay sighed. "You take after your mother," she muttered.

"I heard that, and he is nothing like me. If anything, he's like you. Troy keeps showing him your baby movies," Gabriella said.

"I wasn't greedy."

"You took every toy Troy picked up."

"Because they were mine to begin with. That's not greedy, it's possessive."

"I did my fair share of stealing toys from her," Troy said.

"Yeah, he stole my favorite microphone from me in the tenth grade and never gave it back."

"It's in California."

"And you couldn't think to bring it back?"

"I didn't think about it."

"Obviously," she said, lightly punching Troy's arm.

"No hit!" Zander said, smacking Sharpay.

"Hey! Listen, kid. You are in _my_ house and you will _not_ hit. It's not nice, and I'll give you a fair warning that I smack back, so if you don't want your butt busted, then I suggest you keep your little hands to yourself. Is that understood?"

Zander and Sharpay stared at each other for a few seconds, and Troy and Gabriella exchanged glances, before Zander started crying and wriggling out of Troy's lap. He walked over to Gabriella and let out a rack of sobs, holding his arms up.

Gabriella shook her head. "Nuh uh. You're not hurt, you're not bleeding and you're not dying. You know better than to hit. You hurt Aunt Sharpay."

"Mama!" Zander said.

"No, you're fine. She didn't touch you, so you shouldn't be crying."

"I hurt!"

"You're not hurt. Aunt Sharpay didn't spank you. She told you not to hit, and you shouldn't hit. You know better than that. Go apologize."

"No, up!"

"No. You go tell Aunt Sharpay you're sorry. Now," she said, turning Zander around to face Sharpay, giving him a small nudge.

Zander looked at Sharpay for a few seconds and he sobbed again, looking down as his bottom lip pouted out.

Sharpay sighed and held her arms out. "Come here, Zander."

"No!" Zander said.

"Come on."

"No!"

"Now."

"No!"

"I don't think you should argue with me, I know a lot more words than you. Come here."

Zander sobbed again and walked to Sharpay, laying his head on her shoulder as she picked him up.

"All I did was tell you not to hit me. I didn't yell. I wasn't even mean about it. You hurt me, you shouldn't hit."

"No hurt," Zander said, rubbing his face against her shirt.

Sharpay scrunched her nose up a little. "Okay, you just wiped snot all over my shirt. That's nasty."

Zander laughed and shook his head. "No no no."

"Yeah, you did."

"No."

"Yeah. Didn't we just go over this?"

"No."

"Yeah, we did."

Zander looked at Sharpay for a few seconds and he put his finger on her nose. "No no no."

"I think he knows it's fake," Troy said.

"Troy," Gabriella said.

"Hey, my nose is not _fake_. It's _upgraded_," Sharpay said.

"Who came up with that lie?" Troy asked.

"I did."

"You were pretty before you had it done. You didn't need it."

"Pwetty," Zander said.

"Aww," Sharpay said. "You're pretty, too."

"Yeah."

"You're also conceited. That's such a nice trait for a baby to have. You really do take after me."

* * *

"I don't care how close she is to you, she's not going to lay a hand on my son," Gabriella snapped from the living room.

Sharpay sighed, and rolled her eyes, sitting on the hammock in the backyard. Troy and Gabriella started getting into it, so she decided to take Zander outside so he wouldn't have to witness it. It didn't help any since they could still hear them. It was times like this that Sharpay was glad she had a sandbox and a toddler jungle gym put in her backyard. Shortly after Taylor had left for Stanford, she found out that she was pregnant, and Sharpay knew she'd be baby sitting for them, so she had the sandbox and jungle gym in the backyard specifically for that. After Taylor lost the baby, she just never bothered to take them out. It would for sure come in handy for Ryan and Kelsi's baby when they visited, and it would keep her baby entertained, and it was currently occupying Zander, which she was grateful for.

"Gabriella, if he's hitting her, there's no reason why she can't give him a smack on the hand for it!" Troy said.

"She can abuse her own kid! She's not going to do it to mine!"

"She's not abusive! She would never in a million years become abusive! She knows what it's like, and she would never put any child through that!"

"Bullshit! She threatened a _baby_ that she's bust his ass!"

"You do it all the time!"

"He's _my_ kid! If she's going to be a bitch to my son, then I don't want her around him!"

"Well, that's tough shit because she's his godmother, and I'm not taking that away from her!"

"Troy, she didn't even _know_ about him until today! What makes you think she'll want to be his godmother!"

Sharpay looked over to Zander for a few seconds. She watched him bury his hands into the sand repeatedly and she chuckled lightly when he shook his hands like a maniac. She wouldn't mind being his godmother. She had to admit, he was pretty cute. He looked just like Troy when he was a baby. If she had to, she could handle him. It wouldn't be too big of a deal. She didn't see that ever happening, but she knew she could do it.

Sharpay's thoughts were interrupted when she heard Zander start crying, and she looked over to him. "What's wrong, Zander? Come here," she said, holding her arms out to him.

Zander ran over to Sharpay, sobbing, and when she picked him up, she saw an ant on his hand, obviously biting him. Sharpay squished the ant and she kissed his hand where he'd been bitten. "Is that better?"

Zander sobbed again and he laid his head on her shoulder, putting his thumb in his mouth. Sharpay smiled a little and ran her hand through his hair, gently swinging the hammock back and forth. She couldn't wait to do this with her own baby. She felt special right now. Like she was needed by Zander.

Inside, Gabriella's eyes widened, hearing Zander, and she made a beeline for the back door, but froze in her place when she saw Zander cuddling up to Sharpay. She stood there, staring at them, and she felt Troy's arms wrap around her from behind.

"See?" Troy said, kissing her head. "It'll be fine. He'll be fine with her. I promise."

"She doesn't even like kids," Gabriella said.

"You're telling me that she doesn't like kids, when she's holding our son like he's her own?"

"Well, she never showed any interest in kids before…"

"She's never been a fan of them, but she'd never hurt one. She's a fair person, Gabi… She'd never cause harm to any child, no matter how cross she might seem."

"He better be in good hands, Troy…"

"He will be. I promise. She'll be so good to him, he won't even remember us."

"You better be right…"

* * *

Sharpay sighed in annoyance, and she looked up at the clock. It was almost ten at night, and Troy and Gabriella still weren't back. They'd asked her to babysit Zander so they could clear some things up, but they didn't elaborate. She didn't care, to be honest. She just hoped that they'd show up soon. She didn't mind babysitting, but Zander wasn't her responsibility. Well, he was while she was babysitting, but he definitely wasn't her kid. She'd been trying to get him to sleep for the last hour and a half, but he was just fussy and wouldn't calm down, so she called Chad to come over and help her. She wasn't surprised to learn that Chad hadn't known about Zander.

"Come on, Zander… Please go to sleep," Sharpay said, trying to keep her hold on him as he tried wiggling out of her arms.

"Mama!" Zander yelled.

"Honey, she'll be back in a little bit. I don't even know where she is."

"Mama!"

Sharpay let out a sharp breath. "Chad! Is his bottle done yet!"

"Yep, fresh out of the fridge," Chad said, handing the bottle to her as he walked into the living room.

Sharpay handed the bottle to Zander and let out a relieved sigh when he stopped crying and closed his eyes. "Finally…"

"You're gonna be a great mom, Shar."

"You think so?"

"I know so. Look at him. He was screaming five seconds ago."

"He's only calm because he has a bottle."

"Hey, it counts," Chad said as the doorbell rang. "Want me to get that?"

"Yeah."

Sharpay looked at Zander as Chad left the room and she smiled a little, running her hand through his hair lightly. "…You're not so bad, kid. Maybe I will be pretty okay at the whole mom thing. You know, I'm having a baby. I don't know what it is yet, but I'm thinking Tyler for a boy and Mikayla for a girl. Well, that's if Peyton likes the names… I think he will, though."

"Sharpay, come here. Now," Chad said.

She sighed and stood up from the couch, carefully readjusting Zander and she walked to the door. "What, Rudy McRude."

"Are you Sharpay Rockelle Evans?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes and pulled the door open, so she could see who was there, and froze when she saw an officer in uniform. "…Yes… Why?"

"Miss Evans, do you know Troy and Gabriella Bolton?"

Sharpay and Chad exchanged glances, before looking at the policeman again. "I know Troy Bolton, but Gabriella's last name is Montez…"

"Not according to her driver's license. Can I come in? I have to tell you something."

"Sure… Are they alright?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Evans," the police officer said, walking into the house."

"Well, what happened? Where are they?"

"They're dead."


	4. Chapter 4

Sharpay stared at the officer for a few seconds, hoping she hadn't heard correctly. "…What?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Evans," the officer said. "They're dead."

"…How?" she asked, leading the officer into the living room. "They just went to Troy's parents house to talk to them, how could they be dead?"

"Someone called and said they heard gunshots. When we got to the alleged place of the crime, we found them by Lava Springs Country Club."

Sharpay's eyes filled with tears and she laid Zander in a chair, before sitting down on the couch. "Oh my god, that's my club… Is this going to have something to do with me, like-like legal action, since it happened by my club?"

"No, nothing like that."

"…Wait a minute, how did you find Sharpay? Nobody knew they were in town," Chad said.

"We found a letter in Mr. Bolton's wallet when we were going through it to find his I.D."

"How did you find my address?" Sharpay asked.

"You're the only Sharpay in the United States…"

"…Oh. Yeah, that's my mother's fault."

"I brought the letter with me. It was addressed to you, I think it's only fair that you get to read it," the officer said, handing Sharpay a folded up piece of paper.

Sharpay let out a small breath, and she unfolded the paper, nervously.

_Sharpay,_

_I know this is sudden. Gabriella and I just aren't happy. We don't know what to do anymore, and sometimes the only thing we can think of is ending our lives, to end the worry. If you're reading this, then we've done exactly that. We'd like you to take care of Zander for us. We know that you're the best choice to put him under your care. Please give him all the love and undivided attention you can. We'd rather you not talk about us to him, but however you choose to raise him, it's your decision on whether he knows about us or not. If you do decide to tell him, please let him know that we loved him more than anything and he was our whole world. We can't thank you enough for doing this for us._

_Love, Troy_

Sharpay had tears falling down her face by this point, and she covered her mouth, letting out a small sob. She looked over to Zander, who'd started stirring, and she reached over, patting his stomach lightly to get him to go back to sleep.

"What's it say, Shar?" Chad asked.

"…They want me to keep Zander…" she said. "They planned it…"

"What?"

"They planned this whole thing. They planned the suicide, they planned on just dumping their kid on me, they… Chad, I can't…" she said, with a whine.

"You can. You just have to stay strong through this. He's going to need you more than anything."

"Miss Evans, if you don't want to take him under your custody, I can have him placed in foster care and he can live with a foster family," the officer said.

"God, no, I don't want that, I just…" Sharpay looked at Zander for a few seconds. "I'll keep him… I'm his godmother. I don't know if it's documented anywhere, but they were talking about it earlier today."

"Well, I'll look into it at the police station. What's his full name?"

"Uh… I don't know. Zander Bolton is all I know."

"Unless Gabriella gave him her last name, then it would be Zander Montez," Chad said.

"They're married."

"…Right."

"Thank you for your time, Miss Evans," the officer said, standing up and shaking her hand. "I'll leave Zander here with you, and I'll have someone come by to inspect the house and make sure it's safe for him to stay with you. You'll probably have to buy some socket plugs for the electrical outlets and buy some baby locks for the doorknobs, cabinets and refrigerator, but from what I've seen there's nothing harming him. Does he had a bed he can sleep in?"

"Well, Troy and Gabriella left a playpen here, and a diaper bag," Sharpay said.

"The playpen will be fine. The diaper bag comes with all basic infant essentials? Bottles, milk or formula, diapers, wipes, clothes?"

"I haven't really gone through it except to change his diaper and get his bottle out, so I'm not sure. I can buy him whatever he needs tomorrow."

"I'd do it as soon as you get up. I'll call you ahead of time so you have time to do that, before I send someone over to look at the house."

"Okay. Thank you."

"No problem. Have a good evening."

Sharpay scoffed as the officer left. "Yeah. Good evening, my ass."

"Mama…" Zander said, sleepily.

Sharpay looked at Zander for a few seconds. "…What's the matter, Zander?"

"Mama…"

Sharpay picked Zander up and kissed his head. "Go back to sleep, Honey, you're okay."

"You want me to set up his playpen?" Chad asked.

"No, I'm gonna have him sleep in my bed tonight… And every night until I get a crib."

"Do you want me to stay here tonight?"

"Would you? It'll make me feel better… You can sleep in the guest room."

"Okay."

"Mama…" Zander said.

"…Shar, you're his mom now…" Chad said.

Sharpay stared at Zander for a few seconds and she felt tears spring to her eyes. "I am…"

"You're going to do fine… Just comfort him the best you can. He's still half asleep. He's not going to know you're not Gabriella. Do what you have to do."

"What if I do the wrong thing?"

"You'll learn from your mistakes. How bad of a mistake can you possibly make?"

"I don't know…"

"Why don't you go upstairs? Get him to bed, you go to sleep. I'll get the house straightened up and I'll be in the guest room if you need me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Go on."

Sharpay got up from the couch carefully, and she let out a small breath, looking at Chad for a few seconds. "Thank you… I don't know what I'd do without you…"

"You wouldn't be the awesome person you are, because you can't be awesome without 'me'."

"You'd only be 'aweso'," they finished together.

Sharpay laughed a little and kissed his cheek lightly. "I love you, Danforth," she said, walking out of the room.

"Love you too, Evans. But if anyone asks, I'll deny it."

* * *

"Zander, put that candle _down_!" Sharpay said, running into the living room.

"No, mine!" Zander said.

"It's my mother's, and if she finds out that you broke it, she'll lock you in a cellar."

"No bwoke."

"Put it down. Now."

Zander put the candle down on the couch and he pouted, crossing his arms.

Sharpay rolled her eyes and picked the candle up, putting it on the entertainment center. "You can't play with those things. We're gonna go get you some new toys after my friend comes over, okay?"

"Toy?"

"Yeah. We'll even go to McDonald's and you can play in the ball pit."

"I have ball?"

"Yeah, we'll get you a ball."

"Yay!"

Sharpay laughed a little and she sat down on the couch. "Come here, kid," she said, holding her arms out to him.

Zander walked over to her and laid his head on her shoulder when she picked him up. Sharpay kissed his head lightly and smiled, staring at him. The night had been a little hectic because he kept waking up, but the morning was going pretty good, except for the whole candle incident. She was already getting the hang of taking care of him, and it felt pretty good.

"I'm back, Shar," Chad said, walking through the door.

"Please tell me you got diapers, this child reeks of everything he's eaten," Sharpay said.

"I did."

"Thank god, give 'em to me and hand me his wipes out of the diaper bag," she said, getting down on the floor and laying Zander down.

"On it."

"I dirty," Zander said.

"Yeah, I know you are. You're toxic," Sharpay said.

"Nooo."

"Yeahhh. Thanks," she said as Chad put the wipes and a diaper on the floor. "Okay, let's see how bad this is…"

"Do I need nose plugs?" Chad asked.

"Funny," she said, untaping Zander's diaper. Sharpay gagged a little and covered her mouth and nose. "Oh, my god, that's horrible."

Chad laughed. "Oh man, I should've gotten this on tape."

Sharpay gagged again and she jumped up from the floor, running out of the room. Chad looked at Zander and smiled. "Good one, little dude."

* * *

A few hours later, the social worker from CPS came by to evaluate Sharpay's house. Everything was in check, but she needed to have Zander his own room, a crib, a dresser, and a changing table. Sharpay was having that done during the weekend. Right now, she was on the phone with Peyton to fill him in on what was going on.

"…So I'm keeping him. I couldn't let him go to foster care… That's just cruel and not fair to him," she said.

"_Does this change our plans?"_ Peyton asked.

"No. We're just going to have an extra kid to take care of."

"_Well, I can't wait to meet him."_

"Oh, you'll love him, Peyton. He's annoying, but he's so sweet, and he looks just like Troy…"

"_He sounds cute… Listen, I gotta get to class. I'll call you later."_

"Okay. I love you."

"_Love you, too."_

Sharpay hung up and she let out a small breath, walking out to the backyard. She sat in the hammock and watched Zander play in the sandbox, before looking over to her neighbor's backyard. "Hey, Jordan. You out here?"

"Yep," Jordan said, appearing at the top of the fence.

"How's everything going?"

"Good. Mom's got two more weeks of therapy and then she's done."

"That's great. Tell her I said hi the next time you see her. How's your Grandma holding up? Still wrangling you and your sisters like cattle?"

"I heard that, young lady," an older woman's voice said.

Sharpay bit her lip. "Sorry, Mrs. Haskell."

"You kids are always talking bad about us adults, I just don't get it."

"…I'm an adult too, Mrs. Haskell."

"Bull hockey."

"I'm twenty-one…"

"That doesn't make you an adult. What do you do for a living? Probably sit around that house making butlers and maids wait on you."

"Grandma, be nice," Jordan said.

Sharpay got up from the hammock and she walked over to the fence, climbing on the small board that held it together. "Mrs. Haskell, I am Jordan's teacher."

"Oh yeah? What do you teach?" Mrs. Haskell asked.

"The glee club."

"That's not a class."

"It is now. All students are credited for it. And for the record, I do not have a butler or a maid. I do my own cooking and cleaning, and I don't need someone like you telling me how I _probably_ live my life. You know nothing about me and the next time you start talking shit on me, there _will_ be consequences."

"Sharpay, I wouldn't threaten her like that…" Jordan said.

"I'm not threatening her. It's a warning and a promise."

"You're the one that will see the real consequences, young lady. I'll make sure Jordan's not in your class anymore," Mrs. Haskell said.

"Oh, it doesn't work that way. He can't get transferred out of my class unless he himself requests it."

"He'll be requesting it, then. You wait for _your_ consequences. I'm watching you."

"You can't even walk without help, you can't do anything to me," she muttered to herself.

"I heard that!" she snapped. "Get off my fence!"

"I'm on my side! And this whole fence is _mine_. I paid for the damn thing."

"Watch your language with me," Mrs. Haskell said, walking into her house.

Sharpay looked at Jordan. "You know, my grandma was just like that. I stopped talking to her."

"She lives with me, though," Jordan said.

"So did mine."

* * *

Sharpay picked Zander up as she came out of the kitchen, and she walked to the door, after hearing the doorbell go off. She opened the door and smiled, but frowned when she saw a police officer standing in front of her. "Oh great, now what? I had everything checked out by CPS, they said he was fine to stay here," she said.

"Uh… I'm Officer Goranson… I'm not here concerning a child, I'm here on a complain that a Sharpay Evans threatened Mary Haskell," the officer said.

"…Oh. Well. Okay, then. I'm Sharpay."

"Can I come in?"

"…Depends, am I leaving in handcuffs?"

"I don't think it'll get that serious, Miss Evans."

"How do you know I'm not a Mrs. Evans?"

"I looked you up."

Sharpay stared at Goranson for a few seconds and led him to the living room before sitting down, placing Zander on her lap.

"Miss Evans, Mrs. Haskell says that you threatened her life, is this true?" Goranson asked, sitting on a chair.

"Bull shit!" Sharpay snapped. "I didn't _threaten_ her life! She started talking crap about me, and I told her the next time she talked about me without knowing me that there would be consequences, I never said what I'd do… But now I'm thinking about what I _should_ do to the crazy old bat."

"Since there was no real threat, I'll let you off with a warning and I'll talk to Mrs. Haskell about over exaggerating."

"Like that'll stop her."

Goranson nodded and he looked at Zander, then back to Sharpay. "Your files didn't say anything about you having a child."

"Oh, he's not mine. I'm taking care of him for a few friends… I'm trying to get him under my custody, though. I'm pregnant, but I don't have any kids of my own."

"May I ask why you're fighting for custody of a child that's not yours?"

"His parents are… Gone. Up there," she said, pointing to the ceiling. "He doesn't know."

"Oh… Well, you're doing a great thing. Hey, little guy. What's your name?" Goranson asked, kneeling to Zander's height.

Zander looked at Goranson for a few seconds and grunted, leaning against Sharpay.

"Zander," Sharpay said.

"Cool name, dude. My name's Trenton."

"It's a little unprofessional to go by your first name on duty, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. I'm sorry. Since this is all cleared up, I guess I'll go," he said, standing up. "Thanks for your time."

"Yeah. Zander, say 'bye bye' to the policeman."

Zander snorted, pointing to Goranson. "Piggy."

Sharpay's eyes widened and she covered Zander's mouth. "I'm sorry, I don't know where he got that from."

Goranson laughed. "It's fine. It's cute when it comes from little kids. Have a good day, Miss Evans," he said, leaving the room.

Sharpay sighed and she looked at Zander, moving her hand from his mouth. "You're gonna get me arrested for verbal harassment…"


	5. Chapter 5

Five short days later, Sharpay groaned, waking from her slumber as she heard her cell phone ringing. She looked at the clock and sighed. She only had five minutes left of sleep before her alarm went off. Sitting up, she grabbed her phone and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"_This is Chandra Taylor from Social Services, may I speak to Sharpay Evans please?"_ a voice on the other line said.

"This is she."

"_Hi, Miss Evans, I'm just calling to let you know that I've got all of Zander Bolton's information. If you could come by my office sometime today I could go over some things with you."_

"Oh, okay… Is four okay with you? I get off work at two, but I have an after school program that I run and I have to pick Zander up from a friend's house afterwards."

"_Four is fine. I'll see you then. Thank you for your time, Miss Evans."_

"Thanks," Sharpay said before hanging up. She got up from bed and walked to her closet, to start choosing her outfit for the day. She had one assembled in less than three minutes and got changed into it before walking out of her closet to run her brush through her hair. Most days, she'd straighten and curl it, but her natural curls seemed to be manageable today, so she just left her hair down.

"Mama…"

Sharpay looked over to her bed, watching Zander stir a bit and she smiled, walking to the bed. "Hi, Baby," she said, running her hand through his hair. "It's time to get up. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah? Okay. We'll get you dressed and your hair brushed and then we can go get something, okay?"

"Otay."

Sharpay picked Zander up and kissed his cheek. "Goodness, your diaper took quite a wetting, huh?"

Zander laughed and Sharpay walked to the next room, that Chad had so kindly set up as Zander's nursery. She laid him on the changing table and got his diaper changed, lathered him up with some baby lotion and got him changed into a cute overall outfit, sandals included. She got his hair brushed and she finally stood him up on the table, kissing his forehead. "Let's go eat."

"Eat."

"Yeah," she said, picking him up. She made her way to the kitchen, almost colliding with Chad. "Jeez, you scared me."

"Sorry," Chad said. "Hey, little dude. Did you let your momma sleep last night?"

"Finally. He might need a bath later this afternoon. His diaper was pretty wet and he still sorta smells. Just make sure you put lotion on him. He has a rash, so make sure you use his ointment and powder when you change his diaper."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"When's Taylor supposed to be here? I wanna see her before I have to go to school."

"Any minute. I told her to just come here instead of going to my place."

"Goody."

"Mama, eat," Zander said.

"Okay. You want some eggs?"

"Yeah."

Sharpay put Zander in a high chair and she walked over to the refrigerator, only to be blocked by Chad. "Come on, I gotta feed the kid."

"I'll do it, you sit down. You're pregnant," Chad said.

"I never would have guessed with my constant need to pee, my bulging stomach and my enormous boobs."

"They are pretty big."

Sharpay rolled her eyes and she sat down at the kitchen table, running her hand over her small baby bump. "I can't believe I'm actually gonna be a mom… I wasn't even expecting it, it just happened."

"You'll be a good mom. You _are_ a good mom."

Sharpay sighed and she stood up as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it, you cook."

"I go," Zander said.

Sharpay picked Zander up out of the high chair and she rested him on her hip, walking out of the kitchen and to the door, opening it.

"Chad told me you were _having_ a baby, not that you _had_ one."

Sharpay smiled brightly, seeing Taylor, and they hugged before Taylor walked in. "I am having one, but I got this little surprise in addition," Sharpay said, tickling Zander's stomach.

Zander laughed and pushed her hand away. "No tickle."

"Zander, this is your Auntie Taylor. Taylor, this is Zander."

"It's very nice to meet you, Zander. Is that short for Alexander, perhaps?"

"I have no clue what it's short for, I have a meeting with a social worker later after work."

"Chad told me about Troy and Gabriella… I can't believe they were stupid enough to do something like this. If they felt they couldn't take care of him, why didn't they just ask you instead of doing what they did?"

Sharpay shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know… It bothers me that they did it… I'm kind of glad it happened though… If it hadn't, I wouldn't have him. I've been happier since he's been here."

"Kids will do that to you."

"Mama, I tirsty," Zander said.

"Okay," Sharpay said, leading Taylor into the kitchen. "What do you want?"

"Joosh."

"Orange or apple?"

"Owinge."

"Okay. You stay right there. I'll get it," she said, putting Zander into his high chair.

"Hey, stranger," Taylor said, hugging Chad from behind.

"Hey, Babe. How was your flight?" Chad asked.

"Long and boring. I'm just glad I'm finally home. I can't wait until school's over."

"Mama!" Zander shouted.

"What's the shouting about, Zander? I'm right here," Sharpay said, setting a bottle of orange juice on the high chair.

"I'm surprised he's referring to you as his mother," Taylor said. "Most children take a while to warm up to new people, especially a foster mother."

"I'm his godmother. Do you think Troy and Gabriella referred to me as his mother around him?"

"It's possible. That would explain why he's calling you Mom."

"Breakfast is done," Chad said.

"Mama, eat," Zander said.

"I know, Baby. I'm getting your plate," Sharpay said.

"I'll get it, sit down like I told you to, Tubby," Chad said.

Sharpay furrowed her brow and she sat down, attempting to cross her arms, but huffed when her breasts got in the way. "I can't even cross my damn arms," she said.

"Damn," Zander said.

"No, no. That's a bad word."

"Bad word."

"Yeah. Ow," Sharpay said, putting her hand on her stomach.

"What? What happened, are you okay?" Chad asked, rushing over to the table.

"I'm fine, I got kicked. I should really get an appointment at the doctors office. If I'm getting kicked, I'm pretty far along."

"When was your last period?" Taylor asked, walking over to Sharpay and kneeling in front of her.

"Two and a half months."

"That doesn't necessarily mean that's how far along you are, some women have their period the whole time they're pregnant, some only half the time, and some none at all," Taylor said, feeling around on Sharpay's stomach. "I'm feeling either the head or the butt. It's kicking up a storm. I say you're about five months, you're just not showing as much. When did you start showing?"

"I don't know, I haven't kept track."

"You should get a doctor's appointment as soon as possible. This far into a pregnancy without taking the proper precautions could be dangerous or fatal to the baby. I take it's moving around as a good sign, but I'd still get an ultrasound."

"I will, I've just been so busy with Zander, and with work… I've been worrying about Peyton since he left."

"Why? Is he giving you a reason to worry?"

"Well, no… I just do. We haven't talked much since he went home. I guess I'm scared he'll decide he wants to stay back there and not come out here."

"Have you tried calling him?"

Sharpay nodded. "Every time I do, he's had to go to class or he had work to do… It's like he doesn't have time for me anymore."

"I'm sure that's not the case. Maybe he really is just busy with school. Being a film student has to take up a lot of time."

"I know, but still."

"Mama," Zander said.

"What, Babe?"

"Baby," he said, pointing to Sharpay's stomach.

"Yeah, Mommy's baby."

"No, mine."

"Yours?"

"Yeah, mine."

"It's mine too, I'm the one that made it."

"No."

"Yeah, I did. I can't show you how I did it, but I did it."

Zander whined, and he started crying, making Sharpay sigh. She ran her hand through her hair before taking Zander out of his high chair and she let him cuddle into her.

"You need to stop. Mommy has to leave for work in a little bit, and I don't want you throwing a fit for Uncle Chad," Sharpay said, running her hand through his hair.

"My baby…" Zander said.

"Okay, it's your baby. Just calm down."

"I think it's safe to say that he won that argument," Taylor said.


	6. Chapter 6

"_Oh, fuck…" she whispered, rocking her hips with his. "Mm…"_

"_I thought you weren't good at keeping up," he said._

"_I lied."_

_His hips slammed against hers, and she raised hers up to meet his._

"_I'm so close…" she said as he pushed into her even deeper. "Oh, god…"_

_Her body shuddered a bit and she let out a screaming moan, digging her nails into his back and moving her hips to ride out her orgasm. "Fuck! Chad… Ugh, god…"_

"_Shar…"_

Sharpay gasped, sitting up in bed. She breathed heavily, biting her lip. That dream was _way_ too real. She could actually feel herself throbbing. She really wished Peyton was here right now. At least he would have been able to cure her arousal. She could do it herself, but there was no way she was masturbating with her son sleeping right next to her.

Did she just think of him as her son? Hers? Not Troy and Gabriella's?

She looked over to her left and smiled, seeing the sixteen-month-old happily sucking his thumb and snoring lightly. She looked towards the window and saw the light shining through. At least she wouldn't have to worry about trying to get back to sleep after that dream. She looked at the clock. _6:45, holy crap. I never sleep in this late,_ she thought.

Sharpay got out of bed and she let out a grunt, putting her hand on her stomach. "You two stop that right now. I just woke up, can't you give me a pee break at least?"

She'd finally gotten her ultrasound done about two weeks ago, like she'd promised Taylor and Chad. She was four and a half months along. Her doctor gave her prenatal vitamins. They were the biggest horse pills she'd ever seen. Every time she takes them, she gags. As far as the doctor can tell, she's having a little girl and a little boy. She'd always wanted unisex twins. She and Ryan always wanted to compare their kids to themselves.

_Damn it, I forgot to call him yesterday,_ she cursed to herself. After using the restroom and getting dressed, she picked her cell phone up and scrolled through her phone to find Ryan's number. She held the phone to her ear as she laid down on her bed and she poked her stomach lightly, laughing when she felt all four feet pounding against her.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey, Ry."

"_Hey. What happened to calling me yesterday?"_

"I forgot. I'm sorry. How's Kelsi? How's my niece?"

_"Kelsi's great, Sharla's loud and demanding."_

"Aw… I've taught her so well."

_"What about my niece and nephews?"_

"Zander's sleeping. Tyler and Mikayla are kicking up a storm, but I guess that's because I keep poking them."

_"That's mean."_

"Mama…" Zander said.

"Morning, Baby. Are you wet?"

"No…"

_"Who's that?"_ Ryan asked.

"It's just Zander," she said, feeling Zander's diaper. "Alright, buddy, a whole night without wetting your diaper. I think it's time for potty training."

"No," Zander said, cuddling up to Sharpay.

Sharpay chuckled and she ran her hand over Zander's back. "I think I'm really getting the hang of this whole mommy thing, Ry…"

_"I knew you would. It just means you'll be a great mother to the twins,"_ Ryan said.

"I just hope they're as cooperative as Zander. Oh! The lady from Social Services called me a few weeks ago. His name is Alexander Ryan Bolton. I'm gonna change his last name to Evans, though."

_"That's nice. Is he adjusting okay?"_

"Yeah. He has his moments, but other than that, he's an angel."

"Baby," Zander said, patting Sharpay's stomach.

"Yeah, there's babies in Mommy's tummy."

"I talk?"

"Yeah," she said, putting Ryan on speaker. "Talk."

"Hi, phone!" Zander said, waving to the phone.

_"Hi, buddy, how are you doing?"_ Ryan asked.

Zander gasped. "Mama, phone talk!"

"Yeah, I heard. That's your Uncle Ryan. Can you say 'Hi, Uncle Ryan'?" Sharpay said.

"Hi, Untle Wyan."

_"Hi, Zander. Are you being good for Mommy?"_ Ryan asked.

"Yeah, I be dood. Mama, I see babies?"

"I'll show you the pictures in a little bit," Sharpay said.

_"Alright Shar, I gotta go. Sharla's crying. I'll call you later this week. Give everyone a hug for me,"_ Ryan said.

"Okay. I love you."

_"Love you, too."_

Sharpay hung up and she ran her hand through Zander's hair. "Mommy's gonna go make breakfast. What do you want?"

"Tandy," Zander said.

"Uh, no. It's too early for candy, young man."

"No tandy?"

"No candy."

"Pantates."

"Pancakes sound good right about now. Let's go make some," she said, getting up from the bed and placing Zander on her hip. "What else should we do with our pancakes? What would be yummy?"

"Tandy."

* * *

Sharpay let out a small breath, straightening up in her chair to crack her back. _Ah, that's better…_ she thought. She looked at the papers in front of her and mentally groaned, hating herself for the assignment. She told her class she wanted them to write their own songs, to base it off of their lives, then choose a recorded song that was the inspiration for it, and write a five-paragraph essay on why they chose it. She'd gotten done with four so far. The first two essays were front and back, the third one was just the right amount and the fourth one was two whole pages, front and back. She admired that her students had so much to write, but her eyes were killing her. The good thing was, all four of those students got A's on the assignment.

She didn't give her students a deadline, she told them to get it done as soon as possible and hand it in to her. She was a pretty easy going teacher. She never gave deadlines unless they were performing a song. She gave them a month to get ready and to learn it really well. That's more time than most, but she likes it when her students are nearly perfect in their performances.

As the bell rang, she gave out a small sigh and stood up from her chair as Jordan walked up to her. "Sharpay, I lost my paper," he said.

"You can re-write it, can't you?" she asked.

"Yeah, but it won't mean as much."

"Well, re-write it and if you find it, give it to me."

"You're not supposed to tell your students to give it to you. It's sexual hairment," Bradley said.

Sharpay stared at Bradley for a few seconds and blinked. "It's sexual _harassment_, Bradley. Get out of my class. Now."

"Why?"

"Go, or I'll make you sing a Broadway song."

Sharpay sighed as Bradley left, and she looked at Jordan. "Look, talk to me at home. My kids are using my bladder as a trampoline."

"See ya. Hope you actually make it this time," Jordan said, kissing her cheek before leaving the room.

"Yeah. Me, too."

* * *

Now that the school day was over, Sharpay was happy to finally be able to go home. She had a pit stop to make at the gymnasium, to talk to Jack Bolton about Zander.

Walking into the gym, she was passed by a few of her students, almost losing her balance before she was caught.

"Sorry about that, Miss Evans. You alright?"

Sharpay smiled and nodded. "Yep. Thanks, Jimmy."

"You can always call me Rocket Man."

"…Thanks again, Jimmy. Let me go."

"Right. Sorry."

Sharpay walked over to Jack, and she tapped his shoulder.

"Yes, Tiara, what do you want this time?" Jack asked, not bothering to turn around.

Sharpay raised an eyebrow and she walking in front of him. "It's Sharpay."

Jack looked up from a clipboard and smiled, giving her a hug. "Hey, kiddo, how's it going?"

"Good. I just have some papers from the social worker about Zander that I thought you and Lisa might want," she said, handing him an envelope.

"Oh, what's in it?"

"Just official stuff. You know, a copy of his birth certificate, all of his medical history, Troy and Gabriella's backgrounds, a statement that he's under my custody. Just stuff like that."

"Okay. I'll have a look at it. How's he doing?"

"He's great. I have a meeting with the social worker next week, so I'm putting in a request form that you and Lisa, and Gabriella's mother are also co-guardians, just in case something happens to me or Peyton."

"I doubt anything will happen to the two of you."

"That's what we thought about Troy and Gabriella…"

Jack nodded and stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Yeah… I know, kiddo. How are the new kids on the block?" he asked, putting his hand on Sharpay's stomach.

"Rough. I'm constantly kicked or punched. One sleeps, the other tortures me, and it goes on and on like that all damn day. I'm so ready to just pull them out myself."

"That'll hurt."

"That's the only thing that's stopping me. Oh, listen, I usually have Chad baby sit Zander when I'm at work or I have a meeting or something like that, but he and Taylor are going to be in the delivery room with me and Peyton. I was wondering if you'd keep an eye on him? You and Lisa are more than welcome to come up to the hospital, but I'd still need someone watching Zander."

"I'll talk to Lisa about it, I'm sure she wouldn't mind it. She's been missing the little guy."

"I know, I can imagine. Chad's barbequing tonight, do you guys wanna come over? It'll give you a chance to see Zander."

"I'll see if she's up to it. I'll be there, though."

"Is she still… y'know, depressed?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah… I think she's taking it harder than anybody."

"Well, she was his mother."

"I was his father. I'm not still like that."

"No offense, Jack, but she carried him for nine months. She had that bonding time, she literally tore open her body giving birth to him, and she nursed him day and night, even through his teething stage. Mothers always go through more. It's actually a statistic. Mothers grieve the loss of a child longer and worse than fathers."

"I know. I just feel bad that I can't help her."

"You can."

"How?"

"Love her. Show her. Tell her. Prove it. Take her out to dinner, cuddle with her on the couch, let her pick what you guys do. It'll make her feel included and important, and she'll realize that you need her as much as she needs you. Talk to her. Maybe if you talk about how much like her Troy was and how much he looked up to her. Make her feel like he's still looking up to her as an example. Make her realize that to keep Troy happy, she has to be happy too."

Jack looked at Sharpay for a few seconds and he hugged her again, kissing her head. "Why couldn't you be our daughter? You really come in handy at times."

Sharpay giggled. "I know."

* * *

"Chad? Where are you?" Sharpay called out, closing the front door behind her.

"Living room," Chad called back.

Sharpay hung up her purse and she walked to the living room, sitting down on the couch next to him.

"How was your day?" Chad asked.

"It was good. My morning was quite interesting," she said. "Where's Zander?"

"Taking a nap. Interesting, huh? How so?"

"I had a dream."

"A dream? Of what?"

"Me and you."

"Yeah? Were we hot and heavy in bed? Oh, wait, we were in a hot tub, huh? Ooh, maybe the Lava Springs pool? Or the kitchen. I've always wanted to have sex in a kitchen."

Sharpay raised an eyebrow, staring at him for a few seconds. "The hot tub sounds romantic, but a kitchen? Really?"

"Hey, we all have our fantasies. What was your dream about?"

"Well, us, like I said."

"Uh huh, and what were we doing?"

"We were fucking like crazy."

Chad looked at Sharpay. "That's not funny."

Sharpay laughed. "I'm serious, dude. We had the sexiest, most wild, roughest, fastest, hottest sex _ever_. And then I woke up. And I still felt like I'd just gotten over my orgasm. Let me tell you, it was the best fake sex of my life, so thank you, Chad Danforth, for fake rocking my world."

"I finally nailed the popular girl."


	7. Chapter 7

"Alexander Ryan!"

Chad looked at Zander for a few seconds. "What did you do, Buddy?"

"I no know," Zander said.

"Where's Zander!" Sharpay shouted.

"He's with me," Chad called.

Sharpay walked into the living room, holding a bottle and the bottle nipple in each hand. "How on earth did you manage to get the nipple off of this bottle, and why did you dump it on Mommy's bed?"

"I no know," Zander said.

"Zander, you know better than to do stuff like that, you are a big boy. Next time you do it, you get a time out."

"No, no time out."

"Yes, time out."

"No!"

"You shouldn't have poured your bottle on Mom's bed, Buddy," Chad said. "Dump it in the bath or the toilet next time."

"He doesn't need to pour it _anywhere_. If he's done with it, he needs to bring it to me. I mean it, Zander, don't do it again or you'll be in even more trouble," Sharpay said.

"No, I no twubble," Zander said with a sob.

Sharpay sighed and she put the bottle and nipple on the table and she picked Zander up, running her hand over his back. "Don't cry…"

"I no twubble."

"You're not in trouble right now, but next time, you will be," she said, kissing his head. "You wanna see the babies? Mommy has a doctor appointment today, and Peyton's coming in for Thanksgiving. Uncle Ryan and Auntie Kelsi will be here, and Aunt Taylor too. You get to see Grandma and Grandpa, and Nana and Papa are coming in, too."

"I see Gamma Gampa?"

"Yeah. They're coming over for dinner in a few days. Peytin's gonna be here today. He's been really excited to meet you."

"Otay."

"Okay. You can come with me and Peytin to see the babies, then, okay?"

"I see babies."

"Yeah. Uncle Chad, that means you can go home now," Sharpay said, looking at Chad.

"What, you're kicking me out?" Chad asked.

"Well, Taylor's home. You can always go bond with her."

"I told her about your sex dream."

"Why would you do that?"

"She laughed."

"Because it's so ridiculous?"

"Because I'm not good enough to give anybody a screaming orgasm, even in a dream."

* * *

Sharpay smiled, watching Peyton and Zander 'wrestle' with each other. She chuckled to herself and she grabbed the mail that was on the coffee table, sifting through it before eyeing an envelope addressed to her. She raised an eyebrow and opened it, taking out a small piece of paper that had a phone number written on it. She furrowed her brow and looked at Peyton for a few seconds.

"I'll be back," she said. "I have to make a phone call."

"Okay," Peyton said.

Sharpay stood up and she made her way upstairs to her room, closing the door behind her. She sat on her bed and grabbed her phone out of her pocket. She dialed the number on the paper and sighed, waiting for someone to pick up.

"_Hello?"_

Sharpay froze. Why was that voice so familiar? It was almost like… No, it couldn't be.

"_Hello? Is anyone there?"_

"I… I'm sorry, I just got a letter saying to call this number… I have no clue what I'm supposed to be doing, or anything. I'm just really confused," Sharpay said.

"…_Who sent it?"_

"It doesn't say. There's no return address."

"_Oh. Well, I'm Gabriella Bolton, does that ring any bells?"_

Sharpay's eyes widened and she gasped lightly, holding her stomach. "…Oh, my god…" she whispered.

"…_Is there something wrong? Who is this?"_

"…Sharpay."

There was a silence.

"Is this _really_ Gabriella? Gabriella Montez?" Sharpay asked.

"_Yes, that's my maiden name…"_

"If this is Gabriella, you have a lot to explain. If this _isn't_, then you are a really _sick_ fucking person," she snapped.

"_What is all of this about?"_

"It's me! Sharpay! Evans! You staged your death and left your fucking son with me!"

"…_Sharpay…"_

"What the fuck is wrong with you! Why would you stage a suicide!"

"_Sharpay, please…"_

"No! What the fuck were you thinking!"

"_I don't… Please, Sharpay, let me explain…"_

"Where are you?"

"_I'm at home…"_

"_Which_ home, Montez?"

"_My mom's."_

"_She_ knew? She _knew_ and she didn't tell me!"

"_Sharpay, nobody knows but my mom…"_

Sharpay's eyes filled with tears, and she let out an angry grunt. "What about Troy? Where is he?"

"_He's dead, Sharpay…"_

"How the fuck did you manage to fake your death?"

"_It's a long story."_

"Come to my house. Now. We're talking about this."

"_Sharpay…"_

"_Now_!"

Sharpay hung up and she let out a sob, running her hands over her face. She'd always hated Gabriella, but now she hated her enough to kill her herself.

* * *

Sharpay opened her front door, staring at Gabriella with a cold glare. "You have some nerve, Montez," she muttered.

"I know…" Gabriella said.

Sharpay motioned for Gabriella to follow her, and she stopped in the doorway of the living room. "Watch him. I have something to do," she said, looking at Peyton.

"Mama," Zander said, running over to Sharpay.

Sharpay picked him up and kissed his cheek lightly. "What, buddy?"

"I doh wif Mama."

"No, you stay with Daddy. Mommy's just gonna be in her room, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

"I doh, too."

"No. You can't this time, buddy. I have Mommy things to do."

"Who dat?" Zander asked, pointing to Gabriella.

Sharpay looked at Gabriella for a few seconds. She saw the tears fill her eyes, and even she herself was confused at how Zander couldn't recognize his own mother. Then again, he hadn't seen her in a long time.

"…She's…" Sharpay froze. She didn't know what to call Gabriella. "Look, go play with Daddy," she said, putting Zander down.

"Mama be back?"

"Yes, Honey, I will be back. You can talk to the babies later if you go play with Daddy."

"I see babies?"

"Yeah, I'll show you their picture."

"Otay, I doh pway."

"You do that. Kick Daddy's butt in wrestling, okay? Peyton. Don't break any bones on that boy, I have no insurance for him yet."

"Whose fault is that?" Peyton said. He groaned when Zander jumped on him, and he gasped to breathe.

Sharpay laughed. "Good job, Zander. Be nice, though. No more jumping. You'll hurt Daddy."

"I no dump," Zander said.

Sharpay looked at Gabriella for a few seconds before motioning for her to follow her again.

"…He looks great, Sharpay," Gabriella said.

"Yeah, I know," Sharpay said, leading Gabriella up the stairs.

"…Where does he sleep?"

"He has his own room, but he usually ends up in bed with me. Little sneak keeps climbing out of his crib."

"Maybe you should get him a toddler bed."

"Maybe you should let me raise my kid my own damn way."

Sharpay knew she hurt Gabriella when she said that. She had every right to be hurt. Sharpay had every right to say what she did, though. He wasn't Gabriella's son anymore, he was _hers_, and that wouldn't change.

"…I'm sorry…" Gabriella said.

"Good."

"…Can I see his bedroom?"

"It's just a room."

"Please?"

Sharpay let out a small breath and walked towards Zander's bedroom. She opened the door and walked in, standing by his crib.

Gabriella felt her eyes fill with tears. She saw basketballs every where. The crib bedding. The wallpaper. A stuffed basketball was in his crib. She walked over to his dresser, and she noticed a picture. Staring at it, she realized that it was a picture of her and Troy. She covered her mouth, and picked the picture up, running her hand over it.

"…I miss him…" Gabriella said.

"Who?"

"Well, both of them…"

"Who do you miss more?"

Sharpay watched Gabriella for a few seconds. She knew she couldn't answer that. It wasn't fair that she asked that.

"…Zander," Gabriella said. "I miss nursing him… I miss giving him baths… I miss cuddling with him, and reading with him…"

"You still nursed him?"

"Yeah. I was weening him from it, but… It was just easier."

"So, that's why he's been getting handsy with me…"

Gabriella laughed. "It means he's hungry. I know it'll be weird, but it'll comfort him. It'll give you a little heads up for when those two get here," she said, nodding to Sharpay's stomach.

Sharpay looked down and put her hand on her stomach. "…Oh, god, nursing three kids at once. That's gonna suck ass. My boobs are gonna be dependent on them."

"Don't do it all the time, then. He doesn't have to depend on you nursing him. It's just a comfort thing."

"Yeah?"

"There's a lot to learn before you become a mother, Sharpay."

"I _am_ a mother. I'm a mother of a very happy, healthy little boy that was abruptly stood up by his own parents. It's a damn good thing he adjusted to me so fast, because I honestly don't know what I would have done if he was as attached to you as you think he was."

"He was, Sharpay."

"Really? He's been calling me Mama since you suppsedly killed yourself. You saw him downstairs. He doesn't even know who you are. He doesn't remember you, and I thank God every day that he doesn't remember you, because you aren't someone I want my son remembering or knowing as his mother, or even a relative."

Gabriella stayed silent and she put the picture back on the dresser. "I guess I deserved that…"

"You did."

"…Look, can't we just talk? I don't want to fight…"

"Oh, trust me, there will be fighting," Sharpay said, leaving the room. She waited until Gabriella caught up with her in her bedroom before closing the door. "Look, I don't want to be buddies with you, I don't want anything to do with you. What you did to Zander, what you did to _me_, you should wish you'd actually killed yourself."

"I didn't do anything to you."

"Yes, you did. I thought you were _dead_, Gabriella. When I finally came to the reality that I'd be taking care of a baby, the only thing I thought about was that I wished you'd been here for me to tell me how to handle him. I actually _wanted_ you alive to be my friend so I could run to you when I needed help with him," Sharpay said as her voice cracked.

"I'm sorry…"

"You should be! It scared me to death when that police officer told me you were dead! I actually _cried_ for you! I hated you for dumping your kid on me, and I hated you for taking Troy down with you, but I _missed_ you! For the first time in my life, I actually thought of you as a friend!"

"You did?"

"Yeah, _did_. Not anymore," she said, sitting on her bed. She stayed silent for a few seconds, before letting out a breath. "How'd you fool the police?"

"There was this girl when we got out of the car. She had a gun. I guess she thought Troy was someone else. She shot him, and she started coming after me but I took the gun from her, so she got me on the ground and started choking me, so I shot her in the head… And then I put the gun in her hand and planted my wallet on her."

"Okay, but this was just some random girl? How did the police not figure out that girl wasn't you?"

"Her face was pretty mangled."

"What did you do to her, stomp on her face?"

"…Maybe."

"That's pretty fucked."

"She killed my husband. _That's_ fucked."

Sharpay nodded and she let tears slide down her cheeks. "…Why did you make me Zander's godmother?"

"Because I knew I could trust you with him."

"I know nothing about kids."

"You're learning."

"Still…"

"I chose you, because… I wasn't doing my job as a mother. I left him with you because, even though I knew you weren't prepared, you were going to do the best you could because you wanted people to know you're the best mother in the world, and trust me, you are."

"No, I'm not…"

"Yeah. You are. I saw the way he looked at you downstairs. He never looked at me like that. He was excited to see you, and you've been home with him all morning. He really loves you."

"You think so? …Sometimes he's just so… stubborn. It makes me think he doesn't want me."

"Well, maybe at the time he doesn't want you, but he does love you. It's hard to ignore. He's a lover."

"Okay, he's one, you can't call him a lover, that's just wrong."

Gabriella laughed a little. "Okay, he loves his mommy… And that's you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah… Look, I better go. I didn't tell my mom where I was going, she's probably worried. We can talk again some other time if you want to… Or need to," she said, walking towards the door.

"Gabriella?"

"Yeah?"

"…Thank you."

"For what?"

"Trusting me with Zander. I think if he wasn't with me, I'd probably be beating myself up with stress. It's cheesy, but he's really the best thing that's come alone in my life. It wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you, so thank you."

Gabriella smiled. "You're welcome, Sharpay."


	8. Chapter 8

My chapters have been short lately, and I'm sorry about that. I lose muse quickly, but I try my best to keep the updates reasonable.

* * *

"Alexander!" Sharpay snapped. "Mommy has told you plenty of times to leave that damn candle alone, now put it _back_."

Peyton laughed, watching Zander put the candle back on the coffee table. He was just as in love with Zander as Sharpay was. Now that they were having their own baby–_babies_–he was getting kind of nervous, but excited at the same time. He'd been back in Albuquerque for a week now, but he had to leave again in just a few days.

"Don't laugh, he'll think it's okay," Sharpay said.

"Sorry."

Sharpay looked at the clock and sighed. After her encounter with Gabriella last week, they'd agreed that she'd come back over so they could talk. "It's almost twelve. Gabriella will be here soon. I need you to keep Zander entertained for as long as possible."

"I'll do my best, but you know how he gets if he's not with you."

"He can deal without me for an hour."

Just then, the doorbell rang, and Sharpay tried standing up, but she fell back onto the couch. After trying it again and falling a second time, she let out a frustrated breath and held her hand out. "Help me up from this damn couch, I can't do _anything_ with your freakin' kids in the way," she said.

Peyton took Sharpay's hand and pulled Sharpay up from the couch, kissing her head. "Good luck," he said, before picking Zander up.

"Thanks, I'll need it," she said, walking to the door. She opened the door and stepped back so Gabriella could come in. "Hey. Do you want anything to eat or drink?"

"No, I'm fine," Gabriella said, walking into the house.

"Alright," Sharpay said as she led her into the living room. "So, basically, I just wanted to let you know the situation with Zander and all our legal decisions. Obviously, I requested your mother be taken off of the co-guardianship, but that was basically because I can only have three people as co-guardians. Peyton and I are the soul guardians, Troy's parents are the co-guardians, and Chad is also a co-guardian because he's my regular baby sitter and he spends the most time with him other than me."

"Okay… Look, Sharpay, I'm really sorry that I–"

"I don't want to talk about that. I know what happened, I know you're sorry, I get it. Talking about it just reminds me of Troy, and if I have a constant reminder of him, I'll go crazy, so just drop it."

"…But, Zander is his _son_."

"Yeah, but he's nothing like Troy, Gabriella. Since he's been here, he's been just like me. The only thing about him that's Troy is his love for basketball."

"…He likes basketball?"

"He's obsessed with it. Chad bought him a toddler sized basketball court. He plays with him. When I take him to school with me, Jack takes him during free period and lets him play with his students. Word in the hallways is, he's better than Jimmy Zara."

"That's really sad."

"Yeah… So, anyways. I was thinking about visiting arrangements… Since you _are_ actually live, and still Zander's mother, I don't want to cut off all visitation," she said. She saw Gabriella's eyes brighten, and she knew she'd made her feel a little better.

"…Really?" Gabriella asked.

Sharpay nodded. "Although you're legally not his mother, I still want you to be able to spend time with him… If you want to, anyway."

"God, yes, I want to, I just… I didn't think you'd ever agree to it…"

"I'd rather visitation wait until all this legal crap is out of the way. Any family gatherings we have, you and your mother will be invited and you'll see him at those times, and of course when we have our discussions."

"That's fine with me."

"At first, I'm still going to be hesitant about it, but I was trying to come up with a suitable visiting schedule last night. Are you in school or working?"

"No, not at the time."

"Okay, well, I was thinking, if you're still completely free all day after the legal stuff is finished, that since I work, I could drop him off so you can have him until I get off work. Since you would have him five days a week for the full school day, the Boltons could have him during the weekends, since that's the only time they'd really get to see him."

"That sounds perfect."

"Okay, great. All the legal things should be done by this Wednesday. That's only two days from now, so I was going to give Thursday to Sunday for Zander to get used to being around you, that way he's comfortable with being with you on Monday. If things don't go well on Monday, we'll just have to give it a little more time for him to get used to you."

"Thank you, Sharpay…"

Sharpay looked at Gabriella, and she couldn't help but notice the glisten of tears in her eyes. She felt terrible that Gabriella thought she wasn't doing a good job as a mother. She knew Gabriella loved Zander. She probably loved him more than she ever could herself. She didn't give birth to him. She didn't spend all those sleepless nights with him after he was born. She didn't nurse him–until just recently, of course.

"Mama!" Zander shouted, running into the room.

Sharpay's thoughts were interrupted, and she looked at Zander as he ran to her, holding his arms up. She picked him up and kissed his head, sitting him on her lap. "How did you get away from Daddy?"

"Dada?"

"Yeah, Dada. Peyton! You're supposed to be watching him!" she called out.

Peyton walked into the room and took Zander from Sharpay. "I was watching him, I went to the bathroom for two seconds," he said.

"A lot can happen in two seconds, Peyton. Find Boi and let them play together."

"You don't like it when Boi licks him in the face."

"That's because Zander opens his mouth for kisses. Don't let Boi lick him in the face and they'll be fine. Don't let him pull on Boi's ears, either."

"Say bye to Mommy."

"Bye bye," Zander said, blowing a kiss to Sharpay.

She laughed a little and blew a kiss back to him, and laughed again when he pretended to catch it and put it on his cheek. "God, Chad's rubbing off on him. He's gonna be a player when he gets older," she said. "Have fun with Boi and Daddy."

"Otay."

When Peyton left, Sharpay looked at Gabriella, who now had tears rolling down her cheeks. She looked at her for a few seconds, before saying anything.

"…Gabriella, I assure you, Zander is being taken care of, and he's spoiled and loved unconditionally, by several people. You don't ever have to worry about his health and well being. I know you're worried about him, but you saw him. He's happy, healthy, and still the same Zander he was before. I promise that nothing will ever happen, and I'll never keep him from you altogether unless there's a damn good reason," Sharpay said.

"Pretending to kill myself and pawning him off on you isn't a good reason to keep him away from me?" Gabriella asked, sniffling.

Sharpay reached over to the coffee table and handed her a tissue. "No, because I know that in your mind, you were trying to to the right thing for Zander because you thought you weren't doing the best you could. The fact that you trusted me to be his mother means the absolute world to me."

"You didn't even like him when we came over that day."

"Well, he was being a brat. He smacked me. After that, he was okay. I got that bonding time with him when we were cuddled up in the hammock. He got bit by an ant, and after I kissed his hand and started swinging with him, he was just fine. I got used to him."

"How can you go from not liking a baby to loving him?"

"Easy. I was given the chance. I feel in love with him. I fell in love with the idea of being his mom. I fell in love with the idea of him being my son. When I used to think about having kids, I always wanted a little boy like Zander. The fact that you gave me that opportunity and gift, I don't think I could ever thank you enough."

"Taking care of him and loving his is thanks enough. I know you love him."

"I do, but I could never love him the way you do. You gave birth to him. That's the most special bond in the world. I'll never be connected to him like you."

"You seem pretty connected to me…"

"We are, but it's nowhere near as close as the connection you have with him."

"I don't have that anymore. He's not my son anymore, he's yours."

"Gabriella, he _is_ your son. You gave birth to him. You will always be his mother. I'll never take that away from you. I promise you that."

"Really? You mean that?"

Sharpay nodded. "From the bottom of my heart."


	9. Chapter 9

After getting all of Zander's legal work sorted out, Gabriella started watching him during the school hours. It had been a month of that arrangement, and it was still going pretty well. Right now, it was three-thirty, but Sharpay called Gabriella to let her know she had a few students to talk to, so she'd be by to pick Zander up at about four or so.

"Gab!"

Gabriella looked up from her book and she smiled when Zander ran over to her, with a toy cell phone in his hand. "What?" she asked.

"Talk."

"Who is it?" she asked, taking the phone from him and putting the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Babies!"

"You're right, it's your brother and sister. Hello, Tyler and Mikayla, how are you today? Yeah? Yeah, I think your big brother is _very_ handsome. Do you wanna talk to him? Okay, here you go," she said, handing the phone to Zander. "The babies wanna talk to you."

"I talk to babies?"

"Yeah, you go talk to them. Mommy's going to be here to pick you up in a little bit and then you can talk to them at home, too. Go talk."

Gabriella watched Zander walk back over to the toy box in the corner of the room, and she looked at her mother, Maria as she came into the room and sat on the couch next to her. "Hi, Mama," she said.

"Hi. How's your arrangement going?" Maria asked.

"It's great. I get to see him almost all day every day. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Except having him with you permanently."

"Mama…"

"What? Gabby, this is _your_ son. You should have custody of him."

"I lost my rights when I decided to pretend I was dead. I'm happy with this arrangement. I'm fine with it."

"But, I'm not. This is my grandson, and I don't want some stranger raising him."

"Mama, Sharpay is not a stranger. She's a really good friend of mine and Troy's."

"I've never met her."

"I tried inviting her over for dinner plenty of times, and you keep saying no."

"Well, can you blame me? She's rude to you."

"No she's not!" Gabriella said, standing up from the couch.

"You were always complaining about her in high school."

"Yeah, high school. We aren't in high school anymore. We're adults. I'm not having this conversation with you right now. Not with Zander in the room," she said, walking over to Zander and picking him up. "You wanna go play outside? Aunt Gabby will push you in the swing."

"Why are you calling yourself his aunt?" Maria asked.

"Because I'm not his mother anymore. His mother is Sharpay. End of discussion."

"I swing, Gab," Zander said.

Gabriella walked out of the living room and she walked out the front door, over to the baby swing that hung in the tree in the front yard. She got Zander in the swing and locked the guard into place before swinging him lightly.

"Up," Zander said.

"We can't go too high, you'll get scared again," Gabriella said, pushing the swing a little harder.

"No, I no scared."

"We aren't going any higher, you're fine with how high you are right now."

"No, up!"

"No, Zander, you're fine."

"Up!"

"Stop. Now."

Zander let out a scream and he started sobbing, only resulting in Gabriella stopping the swing and taking him out. "Okay, we're going in," she said, resting him on her hip.

"No in! I stay out!"

"You need to calm down. Stop it right now," she said, walking up to the porch and sitting on the bench swing.

"I stay out!"

"We're staying outside. Calm down, you're fine."

"Mama!"

"Mommy will be here soon, Honey, just calm down," she said, kissing his head. "You're hot, you need to calm down."

"I want Mama!"

"You're okay, calm down," Gabriella said, laying Zander down and swinging gently back and forth.

Gabriella watched Zander cry for a few seconds, and she let out a small breath as tears filled her eyes. Getting him to calm down had never been this hard. When his cries got louder, she bit her lip, sighing lightly, and she unbuttoned her shirt before unclipping her bra and getting Zander positioned to her breast.

The second he started sucking on her, his cries stopped and he calmed down instantly. She looked up when she heard a car pull up and she looked back down at Zander when she saw that it was Sharpay.

Sharpay shut her car off and got out, shutting and locking her door. She looked up to the porch and a small smile came to her face as she walked up the lawn and porch, and sat next to Gabriella, watching Zander for a few seconds.

"Is he okay?" Sharpay asked.

"I don't know. He freaked out when I said he didn't need to be swung any higher, and I noticed he was warm," Gabriella said.

Sharpay felt his forehead for a few seconds. "He was warm last night, too. I'm gonna call and get an appointment for him. It's probably just teething, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

"He always got a fever when he was teething. He could be going through a growth spurt. If he starts playing with his legs a lot when he's throwing a fit, he just needs to get in the bath tub. The water helps."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"How'd today go?"

Sharpay sighed, running her hand through her hair. "Would have been better if I hadn't been going to the bathroom every twenty minutes to throw up."

"That could be a sign of labor, Sharpay. I got really sick a few days before I went into labor with Zander."

"I'm only seven months along."

"I was only eight."

"That's not seven."

"Early labor is early labor. You shoulld get it checked out."

"I know… I keep forgetting you went through this. For some reason, my brain has itself thinking that I gave birth to Zander and I never went through the things I'm going through right now."

Gabriella laughed a little. "You'll be used to it the next time you get pregnant."

"Who says there's going to be a next time? I've got two kids in here, Peyton should be lucky I'm even letting him touch me, let alone having sex after birth."

"Gabby, your phone was ringing," Maria said, walking out onto the porch.

"It's okay, Mama, I'll call them back later."

"I didn't realize you had company."

"Oh, this is Sharpay. Zander's mother. Sharpay, this is my mom."

"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Montez," Sharpay said, standing up and shaking hands with Maria. "I can't believe we haven't met until today."

"Yes, well, I have work. I got the day off today," Maria said before looking at Gabriella. "Gabby, you shouldn't be nursing someone else's baby."

"Oh, it's fine. If it calms him down, it doesn't matter to me."

"Just as well… It was nice meeting you, Sharpay, but I have to get dinner finished. You and Zander are welcome to stay if you want."

"Oh, thank you but my boyfriend is in town. We're trying to spend as much time together as possible before he has to leave for school again."

"Alright. Maybe some other time."

Gabriella sighed when Maria walked inside and shut the door, and she carefully took Zander away from her breast when she noticed he was asleep. "I'm sorry about her," she said, fixing her bra and shirt.

"It's fine," Sharpay said. "I know how moms are. I have one, too."

"Yeah, but not mine," she said, standing up and laying Zander over her shoulder. "He's asleep. I think you're safe from a tantrum until you get home."

"Thank you. Can you get him in his car seat? I had a hell of a time trying this morning."

"Sure. You know, you can blame Peyton. He got you pregnant with twins. That must suck big time," she said, following Sharpay to her car.

"I'm the one that carries the twins gene, he just got me pregnant."

"Still the same. It wasn't your fault your egg split."

"Actually, it didn't. Two got fertilized. They're fraternal twins. They're in their own sack."

"Nifty. I hope I never get twins. I'd go nuts," Gabriella said, getting Zander into his car seat. "There you go, buddy…" she said, putting a stuffed animal in his lap. "He's all set," she said, closing the back door. She looked at Sharpay for a few seconds, who was leaning against the car, taking slow breaths. "Sharpay."

"I'm fine," Sharpay said, standing up. "I'm good. It's over."

"What's over?"

"…Nothing."

"Sharpay, you're in labor! I told you earlier that's what it was!"

"I'm not in labor, I just got a cramp."

"Yeah, it's called a contraction. Sharpay, you can't drive home."

"I'm two blocks away. I'll go home, I'll tell Peyton and he can take me to the hospital. I'm not in labor, I'm okay."

"You _are_ in labor. I went through this too, you know. This is dangerous for the babies, Sharpay, you're only seven months along. They aren't developed, they can get hurt by this."

"I'm fine."

"No you're not."

"I am. I'll get home and I'll let Peyton know. I'll be okay."

"You better tell him."

"I will. I promise. Good bye," Sharpay said, getting into her car.

* * *

Chad walked into Sharpay's house, closing the door behind him. He'd gotten a call from her saying she needed him to come over as soon as possible because Peyton wasn't home. She'd sounded worried on the phone, so he came over right away to see if she was alright.

"Sharpay?" he called out. "Where are you?"

"My room, hurry!" Sharpay shouted.

Chad ran upstairs to Sharpay's room, and he saw her sitting on her bed with her hand on her lower stomach, tears running down her cheeks and her underwear no where to be seen. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

"I thought I just had to pee, and my water broke. I can feel one of the babies, Chad, I can't get to the hospital on time. Please tell me Taylor's in town this weekend."

"She is, she is. She's at my house, I'll call her," he said, getting his phone out of his pocket.

Sharpay got her own phone from the nightstand and she dialed Gabriella's number, not even waiting for her to answer when she picked up. "Get over here. I'm in labor," she said.

"_I told you! I'm on my way, I'll take you to the hospital,"_ Gabriella said.

"I'm not gonna make it to the hospital. Chad's calling Taylor right now."

"_I'll call an ambulance, then."_

"No, it's okay. Taylor's my midwife. She was put through training. Just get over here."

"_On my way."_

Sharpay hung her phone up and put it back on the nightstand, just as Chad hung his own phone up.

"Okay, she'll be over in two minutes. She's getting her birthing kit together. Where's Peyton?" Chad asked.

"He took Zander to McDonalds. I didn't feel good so I told him to take him anyway."

"How long ago did they leave?"

"About an hour ago."

"He should be home soon, then. Taylor says you need to be laying down and propped up."

"How the hell to you lay down and sit up at the same time?"

"Beats me, ask her. She's the genius."

Chad helped Sharpay get laid down on the bed, and he sat at the end of it between her legs. "Oh man, Shar, one of the babies is already crowning, you should see this."

"Does it _look_ like I have an elongated neck, Chad?" Sharpay snapped.

"Chad, where are you!" Taylor shouted from downstairs.

"In Sharpay's room! She's crowning!"

Taylor got into the room and she looked at Sharpay and the Chad, before setting up her kit on the bed. "What stupid thing did you say to her?" she asked.

"He told me I should see what's happening," Sharpay said.

"She's not a contortionist, Chad."

"That's what I said."

"Do you want to see what's going on?"

"Not if it's gross."

"It's beautiful, your baby has a pretty little head," Taylor said, getting a round mirror and holding it by Sharpay's legs. "Can you see?"

Sharpay smiled. "Aw…"

"Alright, who else is coming?"

"Gabriella's on her way over. Will you suffice with her in the room?"

"I'm a mature adult, I assure you I won't start any unnecessary drama."

"Okay."

"Chad, get up there behind her so she's propped up."

"Sharpay!" Gabriella shouted.

"My room!" Sharpay said.

"Are you okay? I told you earlier you were in labor, did you listen to me? Hell no," Gabriella said as she walked into the room. "Where's Peyton?"

"He should be home soon, he took Zander out to eat," she said as a door closed. "That's him."

"I'll go get him," she said, running out of the room.

"Okay Sharpay, take a deep breath and push," Taylor said.

"But, Peyton's not in here yet," Sharpay said.

"I know, but we need to get these babies out as fast as we can so we can get them checked out. He's not going to miss it, it's still going to take a little bit."

"He won't miss it?"

"He's just downstairs. Push."

Sharpay grabbed Chad's hand when he held it up for her, and she took a deep breath, pushing.

"You're doing good. Keep going," Taylor said.

"My bedding is going to have to be burned after this…" Sharpay said before pushing again.

"You can buy new ones."

"Sharpay! Why didn't you call me?" Peyton asked, rushing into the room with Gabriella behind him, holding Zander.

"Because I figured you were on your way back. My water broke fifteen minutes ago, I thought I'd be okay, but I was already crowning when Chad got here," Sharpay said. "Hand. Here. Now."

Peyton walked over to the bed and he knelt on the floor, taking the hand Chad wasn't holding.

"Do you want me to put him in his room or anything?" Gabriella asked.

"No, he's fine," Sharpay said.

"Push," Taylor said.

Sharpay pushed again, and she whined, before letting out a rack of sobs and leaning her head back against Chad.

"It's a girl," Taylor said, laying the baby on a towel. "Gabriella, you know how to use an aspirator?"

"Yeah," Gabriella said.

"Get everything out of her nose and mouth and swaddle her the best you can, it doesn't have to be perfect, just get her warm."

As Gabriella put Zander down and did what she was instructed, Sharpay let out a cry.

"Mama," Zander said.

"Mommy's okay. Look, your sister's here," Gabriella said, getting the baby wrapped up in the towel.

"Baby?"

"Yeah, she's right here."

"I see baby!"

"Push, Sharpay," Taylor said.

Sharpay took a breath and pushed, leaning up a little. She let out a grunt sounding scream before letting out a breath.

"This baby's bigger than the other one, Sharpay, you have to push harder."

Sharpay pushed again a little harder and she let out a rack of sobs.

"Mama cry…" Zander said as his bottom lip quivered.

"No, no, don't cry. Mommy's fine, Zander," Gabriella said.

"Mama cry!"

"Mommy's having the other baby, she's gonna be okay in a minute. She's okay."

"Okay Sharpy, I want you to push and really bare down, okay?" Taylor said.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Sharpay said.

"Give it your all. Push as hard as possible."

"Now?"

"Push."

Sharpay took a deep breath and she leaned forward, squeezing Chad and Peyton's hands, pushing as hard as she could.

"You're doing great, Babe, keep it up," Peyton said, kissing her cheek.

"Don't kiss me! That's what got me pregnant!"

"Sharpay, keep pushing," Taylor said.

Sharpay pushed again and she let out a scream, letting out a rack of sobs.

"One more and he'll be here. Push as hard as you can."

Sharpay took a breath and she grunted, pushing as hard as she could, letting out another small scream when the baby slid out.

"It's a boy," Taylor said, holding the baby up.

Sharpay laughed through a rack of sobs and she shared a kiss with Peyton.

"Can she have her?" Gabriella asked, picking Mikayla up.

"Yeah," Taylor said.

Sharpay smiled, looking at Mikayla when Gabriella handed her to her and she ran her finger over her cheek, kissing her head. "Hi there…" she whispered.

"She's beautiful," Peyton said, kissing Sharpay's head.

"God, I can't believe they're finally here…" she said as her voice cracked.

"He seems healthy. I don't hear any congestion or wheezing," Taylor said, wrapping Tyler up and handing him to Peyton. "I still want you to go to the hospital, though. Just to be safe. At least for the babies."

"Can't it wait? I just pushed two kids out of my body, and ruined my favorite bedding at the same time. I'm tired."

"You can rest for a little bit and take a shower to get cleaned up, but we are definitely going tonight."

"Fine…"

"Mama," Zander said.

"Come here, baby. You wanna see the babies?"

"Yeah, I see babies."

Gabriella lifted Zander up onto the bed. "They're gorgeous, Sharpay," she said. "Congratulations."

"Thanks…" Sharpay said.

"Baby," Zander hair, patting the towel on Mikayla.

"That's Mikayla. Can you say 'hi, Mikayla'?"

"Hi, Mitaywa, I Zanner."

"What are you to Mikayla and Tyler?"

"I big brover."

"You did it," Peyton whispered, kissing her head.

"I did it," Sharpay said with a nod. "…How are we gonna do this? How are we gonna take care of them, while I'm here and you're in New York?"

"We're not going to be apart for long. I only have four more months of school. Well get through it."

"How?"

"Baby steps."


	10. Chapter 10

When Sharpay was admitted into the hospital and the babies were checked out, they found out that the twins were full term. The ultrasound technician that Sharpay had was supposedly a new technician and was still learning. After a lecture from Sharpay about hiring people that actually know what they're talking about, the doctors assured her that Tyler and Mikayla weren't affected by the mistake. Now, it's two weeks later and Sharpay and the twins were back at home. Peyton was back in New York already, so Chad and Taylor were going to be at Sharpay's house during the day to help with Zander and the twins.

"I think she's hungry, she's rooting around," Taylor said, walking into the kitchen with Mikayla in her arms.

"Again? I just fed her an hour ago," Sharpay said, holding her arms out.

"Yeah, well, everything that was put _in_, came _out_ about fifteen minutes ago. Trust me, I'm going to need reconstructive surgery on my nose for the parts that are melted. You're paying the bill," she said, handing Mikayla to Sharpay.

"Ha ha, funny."

"Mama," Zander said, running into the kitchen.

"What?"

"I see sisser."

"I'm getting ready to feed her, baby, you can see her when she's done."

"I see brover?"

"He's sleeping. Uncle Chad's making lunch, are you hungry?"

"I hundwy."

"Okay. Ask Aunt Taylor to get you in your high chair."

"Taywor, up?" Zander asked, holding his arms up.

Taylor laughed a little and she picked him up, kissing his cheek before putting him in his high chair. "There you go."

"Tank you."

"You're very welcome."

"So," Sharpay said, looking at Taylor. "When is there gonna be a little Chad running around?"

"Not for a while, until we're both completely done with school," Taylor said, sitting next to Sharpay. "I don't think I'd be able to handle college _and_ a baby. Look at you, you're all high and mighty; a Broadway star, mother of three and still have your life together to the fullest."

Sharpay smiled and watched Mikayla eat for a few seconds. "I have some really wonderful friends that are helping me, though. Trust me, I wouldn't be able to do it without you guys. You're the most amazing friends I could ever ask for."

"It's almost impossible to believe that we were once at each others throats just a few years ago."

"I know… Just goes to show how much you can change."

"It's a good thing. I sure don't miss the Ice Queen."

"I miss the mountain lion," Chad said.

"Well, this mountain lion has three cubs and if you ever wanna spend any time with them, you'll be nice to the momma lion," Sharpay said, looking at Chad.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"I'm too young for that."

"Yes, Sharpay."

"That's better."

* * *

Sharpay and Gabriella shared a laugh as Zander's face pinched up and he started gagging. Sharpay stuck her finger in his mouth to get a piece of lemon out of it, and she kissed his head lightly.

"You didn't like it?" Sharpay asked.

"Yutty," Zander said.

"Okay, we won't be trying that again."

"Until he forgets about it," Gabriella said.

"Eat your strawberry, that's yummy," she said, throwing the lemon away.

"No, yutty," Zander said.

"No, it's not yucky. It's not a lemon, it's a strawberry. They aren't sour."

"No yutty?"

"It's not yucky."

"God that face he made," Gabriella said.

"Should've gotten a picture of that, that was a funny one," Sharpay said, walking over to the table. She smiled, seeing the twins awake in their infant carriers. "Well, good evening, you two, it's about time you woke your lazy butts up."

"I still can't believe how much they look like you."

"Well, I _am_ their mother. They favor Peyton, too. Peyton and I are both blonde. Tyler's got my eyes, Mikayla's got Peyton's."

"Yeah, but they look like you."

"Someone asked me at the doctor's office how Zander was my son if he looked nothing like me."

"Oh, wow. What idiot asked that?"

"No clue. They kept telling me that he couldn't be mine because he looks Mexican, so I told her that he's got my Italian genes."

"You're Italian?"

"Yeah, what did you think I was?" Sharpay asked, taking Tyler out of his carrier.

"I just thought you were white."

"I bet you also thought I only speak one language?"

"No, I've heard you bitch at people in several languages."

"I'm fluent in Italian, French, German and Spanish. Everything your mom said about me in high school at Troy's graduation party? I heard and understood every word."

"You did?"

"Why do you think her tires got slashed?"

* * *

Gabriella smiled, laying Mikayla down in a bassinett that was in Sharpay's room. She stared at her, running her hand over the two-week-old's belly, and she kissed her cheek lightly, before putting a light receiving blanket over her. She looked over to Sharpay, who'd been nursing Tyler, but had fallen asleep. She walked over to the bed and looked at Tyler. Noticing that he was still contently sucking on his mother's breast, she pulled the covers up over Sharpay and Tyler carefully, before rolling Mikayla's bassinett over to Sharpay's side of the bed.

Gabriella turned off the bedroom light and went into Zander's room, smiling when she saw him sitting up in his crib. Her smile turned into a frown when she noticed that his eyes were red and wet from crying, and he was sniffling and sucking his thumb, clutching for dear life onto a blanket. Walking over to his crib, she ran her hand through his hair lightly to comfort him. "Hey… What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I no good," Zander said, coughing.

"You don't feel good? Does your tummy hurt?" she asked, picking him up from the crib.

"Tummy no nice."

"Okay. Calm down. You're okay. We're gonna go lay down, okay?"

Gabriella kissed Zander's head lightly, and she walked out of his room, down the hall to the guest bedroom, and she left the door open before laying down on the bed with Zander. She pulled him close, cuddling with him, and she ran her hand through his hair lightly, hoping to help calm him down. "You're okay… Go night night, your tummy will feel better."

"No, I no good!"

"I know, honey, I know. You'll be okay."

Zander sobbed, burying his face into her chest, and Gabriella sighed, kissing his head lightly. She lifted her shirt and bra, and let him start sucking on her breast before she pulled the covers over them. Staring at him, she felt tears fill her eyes and cascade down her cheeks. She couldn't help but think she'd made a terrible mistake, and should rightfully be his mother again.

Shaking the thought from her head, she looked at him one last time, before drifting off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Sharpay let out a small breath, sitting back in her desk's chair. She was tired and not in the best mood. Tyler and Mikayla were almost three months old now and they still didn't sleep through the night. She didn't expect them to sleep through the night _every _night, but some nights would be nice. She was still getting used to having them around. She still couldn't believe they didn't catch on that she was further along than expected faster. If she'd known, she probably would have been more used to it. She didn't know how, but she was sure she would have been.

"Knock knock."

Sharpay looked over to the doorway and smiled. "Hi, Jack."

"Hi. How are the babies?"

"They're great."

"Sleeping all the way through yet?"

"Hell no. Sleep is their kryptonite," Sharpay said, running her hand through her hair. "When does it get easier?"

"It doesn't."

"Thanks, that's amazing advice."

Jack chuckled and he walked over to Sharpay, kissing her head lightly. "We're making lasagna tonight. You wanna come over?"

"I would, if I knew the twins would behave and not cling to me the whole time. They still cry a lot."

"Well, we don't mind that. We miss having a baby in the house. Two is twice the fun. Come on over, it'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Alright…"

"You okay?"

Sharpay nodded. "Yeah, I'm just… Tired. Zander started throwing up last night and the twins don't ever sleep, so I was going back and forth between kids and it doesn't help that Chad sleeps like a damn log. I put Tyler in bed with him last night so I could feed Mikayla and keep an eye on Zander, and he cried the whole time but Chad never heard a thing."

"He keeps sleeping over like that, people are gonna thing you have a thing going on."

"Well, we do. He's my best friend slash nanny. He's been staying over almost every night since I had the babies. Gabriella comes over on the weekends so she can see Zander, though."

"She sees him every school day."

Sharpay nodded. "Yeah, but still. She likes to put him to bed. She misses him."

"She should have thought about that before she pretended she was dead."

"Jack…"

"What? It's true. She can never get that relationship back."

"And, she won't. But, she _is_ alive, and she's proving that she's okay to watch him, and I'm not going to keep him from her. He's still her son, Jack. I'm not going to make her stay away from him. It's not right and it's not fair."

"I just don't get it. How can you go from hating her, to letting her still be a mother to your son?"

"I got to know her. I still hate what she did. I still hate her for that, but I can not hate her for being a good person to Zander. She's great with him. When I can't calm him down, she can. She knows the tricks."

"You never had problems with him before."

"I'm not having problems with him. I can handle him, there's just times where he's just so livid all I can do is keep him in his crib and let him cry it out, and that makes me feel like a terrible mother," she said as her voice cracked.

"Shar, you are the most amazing mother in this world," Jack said, running his hand over her back. "Don't ever think that you're a bad mother just because you can't calm him down. You're a better mother to him than Gabriella ever was, and that's clear as day."

Sharpay sniffled and she stayed silent for a few seconds. "…I'm scared that she's going to fight me to get custody back."

"She'll never win."

"How do you know?"

"She gave up her parental rights when she left him with you. She'll never get him back, no matter how hard she tries. You have tons of people that are going to back you up if she ever does try."

"She's his birth mother, though."

"It doesn't matter. She'll never get custody of him again. I can promise you that."

"But, what if-"

"It's never going to happen. Don't worry about it so much, Sharpay. You're a good kid. You're a great mother. He's in a good environment, there's no court in the world that would take him from you and give him back to her. I promise."

"How do you know that for sure?"

"Because I just do. I'm a Bolton. Boltons know everything."

* * *

Sharpay walked into her bedroom and she let out a small breath, walking into her bathroom. It was almost midnight and she just got the twins down for bed. It took forever, but she finally did it. Dinner with Jack and Lisa went smoother than she thought, but Tyler screamed his head off for a good twenty minutes. Peyton was supposed to have been home today, but she figured that his flight was delayed, because he still wasn't home. She was trying not to worry too much about it, because she knew if something were wrong, she would have been called by somebody.

She turned the shower on and got undressed before looking at herself in the mirror. For just giving birth not even three months ago, she looked pretty damn good. To twins, no less. She was as thin as she was before she got pregnant, but her abs were no longer in place. Instead, her stomach was smooth and cute, but she liked having the small hint of abs that she had before. She wasn't worried about it, though.

She took her hair out of her ponytail and she ran her hands through it to untangle it a bit, even though she was just going to wash it. "I really need to go back to my roots… And curls," she said to herself, stepping into the shower.

Naturally, she was a brunette. She had really, really curly hair that she adored, but she hadn't had her natural style since she was fourteen. That was almost ten years ago.

Letting the water run over her, she washed her hair real quick before getting the rest of her body washed, and she stayed under the water. She couldn't shake the feeling that someone else was in the bathroom with her, but she knew it was impossible because all the doors and windows were locked and Chad and Gabriella were both at home. It was just her, Tyler, Mikayla and Zander tonight.

When she heard a noise, she became a bit uneasy, but let it go. Something probably fell.

When she felt hands on her waist, she screamed louder than she'd ever screamed before, but a hand covered her mouth and she was turned around to face her intruder.

Sharpay's screaming stopped, but she let her fist jet out and punch the man in front of her in the chest. "Peyton, don't you _ever_ fucking do that again!" she shouted. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said, pulling her into an embrace. "I didn't mean to scare you. I was supposed to surprise you."

"Why didn't you just _say_ something?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his naked body.

"I thought you'd know it was me. You knew I was coming home today."

"Yeah, but I thought by 'today' you meant earlier in the day, not at midnight scaring the living hell out of me in the shower."

"I'm sorry."

"You should be, you jackass."

"I am."

"Good."

"How are the kids?" he asked, kissing her lips lightly.

"They're fine… The twins don't really sleep through the night, so I'll be up and down with them."

"They're getting so big… I almost didn't recognize them when I went in to check on them. And, what happened to Zander's head?"

"He ran into a wall. Getting to be more and more like me every day."

"A wall did that?"

"He was running full force. He hit that wall so hard the pictures shook. He was mad at me because I laughed before I asked him if he was okay."

"Oh, that's nice. You're real caring."

"I do my best."

"I bet you do," Peyton said, sliding his hand over her back.

Sharpay smiled and she wrapped her arms around him a little tighter. "I missed you…"

"Yeah? I missed you, too."

"Good. You should have."

Sharpay closed her eyes, feeling Peyton's hands wander around her body, and she bit her lip, feeling him massaging her breast. When his lips brushed over her neck, she ran her fingers through his hair.

Her lips parted and she drew in a breath when she felt his hand drift downward, and once her slid his over that little on button, she pushed herself into him, moaning lightly.

She slid her hand over him, and she felt him instantly harden up. Her left leg was lifted a bit, and she guided him into her, her breath getting heavier as he pushed himself into her to the hilt. She grasped his shoulder as he kissed her neck and started moving, so she could keep her balance.

"Mm…" she moaned. "God, I missed you…"

"Me, too," he said, sucking on her sweet spot lightly.

"It's been an extremely long five months, and I never wanna wait that long again."

"We won't."

Sharpay gasped lightly when Peyton pushed into her a little harder, and she moaned, pushing her hips to his. She was lifted up and rested against the wall, the second she was safely and steadily held, she wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist and grinded her pelvis into his as they both continued their game.

"Oh god," she whispered as he made a slight circling movement.

Her nails dug into his back a little, and her hair draped over her shoulder. Biting her lip, she moved her hips a little quicker as his pace got faster.

"I'm so close…"

When she felt his thumb circling around that little stimulator, she pushed into him to get the direct contact, but didn't succeed. She let out a frustrated breath and she moved his hand to feel him against her. "Touch me, don't tease," she said.

She let out a moan and the second he placed his thumb on her, she felt herself getting dangerously close to her release, and his.

Their pace got quicker, and the faster his thumb slid over her, the louder her moaning got and the closer she got to the end. Finally, she felt him burst inside her, and she let out a screaming moan, digging her nails into his shoulder as she slightly bucked her hips into his.

Riding out that last wave of pleasure, she let her hips slow and her breathing calmed down a bit, letting out a last soft moan, sharing a small kiss with him.

"God…" she whispered.

"That good, huh?"

"Mhm…"

"Speechless?"

"Uh huh…"

"Wanna go again?"

"Fuck yes."

* * *

Sharpay walked downstairs, pulling her dry, freshly dyed hair into a pony tail, and she gave Peyton a quick peck on the cheek as she passed himon her way to the kitchen table.

"Who is this brunette bombshell that stole my girlfriend's sexyness?" Peyton asked.

"I'm tired of being blonde," Sharpay said, walking over to Zander's high chair. She kissed his head lightly. "Hey, mister, did you sleep good?"

"Yeah," Zander said.

"Yeah? That's good. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah."

"Daddy, he's hungry. What are we having today?"

"Eggs, pancakes and bacon. The usual," Petyon said.

"That sounds yummy, huh Zander?"

"Yummy," Zander said.

Sharpay walked around the table to Mikayla's infant carrier and she smiled, taking her out of it. "Hi, there. You slept awfully good last night," she said, kissing her cheek. "Mommy didn't even hear you wake up this morning."

She smiled at Mikayla as she gurgled, and she kissed her cheek again. "I know you're hungry, you little porker," she said, pulling her shirt and bra up to let her eat.

"Mama, that yucky," Zander said.

"What do you mean it's yucky? She's eating, and I still nurse you when you don't feel good."

Zander shook his head. "No, yucky."

"Uh huh," she said before looking at Peyton. "So. For my birthday, I was just thinking of having a barbeque instead of doing a big party. I don't want a whole bunch of people passing the babies around, and a barbeque would just be family and close friends."

"Sounds good to me. When do you want to have it?" Peyton asked.

"Saturday. It's my actual birthday, so I figured we could have it then."

"What all do you want? I'll go out and get the stuff for it so we don't have to worry about it."

"I'll make a list and have it done by tomorrow. I want to make sure I have everything down and don't forget anything. Year seventeen was a disaster."

"What was so bad about it?"

"My parents were there."


	12. Chapter 12

This is the last chapter! I know you guys probably were expecting it to be longer, but I seriously ran out of ideas. And I think this was a semi-decent ending. Maybe I'll do a sequel later on (very later on). I kind of got off subject in this story and I couldn't find my way back to it, so I hope the ending does its justice.

* * *

Sharpay sat on the couch, leaning over and resting her head on Peyton's shoulder. It was only noon and she was already exhausted. She wanted it to be bedtime so she could just fall asleep for a good eight hours. She looked to the middle of the floor, where the twins were laying on a play pad, and Zander was sitting with them, gently rubbing their tummies like Sharpay taught him to do. She smiled, watching them for a few seconds before she looked at Peyton. "Can you believe they're already four months?" she asked.

Peyton shook his head. "Seems like just yesterday they were being wrapped up and handed to us for the first time," he said.

"They're getting so big… And Zander. He's gonna be two next weekend. I can't believe he's already gonna be two. It doesn't seem like he's been with us that long."

"Because he hasn't. He's only been here the last eight months."

Sharpay's smile faded. She forgot that Zander's not her biological son. That put a damper on her mood. Peyton must have noticed it, because he ran his hand through her hair and kissed her head. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I forgot…" she said softly.

"Forgot what?"

"That he's not ours."

"He is ours, Sharpay…"

Sharpay looked at Peyton for a few seconds.

He nodded. "We've raised him since he was fifteen months old. You, for the most part. He calls us Mommy and Daddy. He knows we love him unconditionally. We do everything we possibly can for him. He's ours. I don't care about genes. He doesn't have any of ours, but that doesn't mean anything to me. He's our son, no one else's."

Sharpay smiled a little. "Yeah…"

"Mommy," Zander said.

"What, Baby?" she asked, looking over to him.

"Sisser eat hands."

"Here," Sharpay said, leaning forward and picking up a bottle from the coffee table. "Give this to her. Wait until she starts holding it before you let it go, okay?"

"Otay," he said, getting up and toddling over to the bottle.

"He's a good big brother," Peyton said.

"Yeah," Sharpay nodded. "He loves them to death. Especially Mikayla. I think she's gonna have problems getting a boyfriend when she's older."

"She won't be getting a boyfriend until she's married, so that will never happen."

Sharpay laughed a little and she laid her head back down on Peyton's shoulder. "You're not going to smother my baby. If Mikayla can't have boyfriends, Tyler can have girlfriends and be the little player you and Chad are hoping for."

"I want him to be a player, Chad wants him to be a pimp."

"My son will not be pimping out girls. That's disgusting and disrespectful."

"Are you really one to talk? I heard stories about you in high school."

Sharpay stayed quiet for a few seconds. She already felt the anger building up. She lifted her head and looked at Peyton for a few seconds. "What are you insinuating, Peyton?"

"Nothing. I just know how you were back in the day."

"No, you don't," she said, shaking her head. "You know nothing about me 'back in the day'."

"Come on, why would Chad lie about something like that? It was even confirmed by Gabriella."

"First of all, Chad doesn't lie. Whatever he told you was probably the truth, but why would you go to Gabriella to find out if it really was true? She didn't know me back then."

"You went to school together and tried to steal her boyfriend."

"That doesn't mean she knew me. She knew of me, she knew about me, and she had classes with me, but she did not know me. She still doesn't. And I didn't try to steal her boyfriend. I was trying to stay close to my best friend. She gave him an ultimatum. She told him that he could be her boyfriend or my friend, but they couldn't be both. He made the mistake in choosing her."

"Why are you badmouthing her? I thought you two were on good terms."

"We are. About Zander. We aren't friends, Peyton. We get along and we're nice to each other, but we are not friends. I'll never consider her a friend. I get along with her and tolerate her because of Zander."

"You sure act like friends."

"We have nothing to fight about. What did Chad tell you about me, 'back in the day'?"

"That you slept around."

"And why was that so believable?"

"Isn't it true?"

"Does it matter? Why did you believe it?"

"Because you're that type of girl."

Sharpay stared at Peyton for a few seconds and she got up from the couch, walking out of the living room. She walked out of the house and slammed the door behind her, before taking her phone out of her pocket and sitting on the first step of the porch. Sharpay dialed Ryan's number and she held the pink phone to her ear, waiting to someone to answer.

"Hello?"

"Ryan…"

"Hey, Shar," Ryan said with a cheerful voice. "How's my beautiful sister?"

"Shitty."

"What happened?"

"Peyton. Peyton happened."

"Why?"

Sharpay's eyes filled with tears and she stayed quiet for a few seconds, to figure out what she was going to say. "We were perfectly fine, we were talking about the kids and how fast they were growing up and we were joking about Tyler being a pimp and I said he's not going to pimp out girls because it's gross and he goes 'well, you're not one to talk, you were like that in high school'," she said in a deeper, mocking voice, "and I asked him how he knew that, and he said 'cause Chad told him and Gabriella said it was true–she's gonna die, by the way, I'm gonna kill her if she called me a slut–and he believes them, and I mean I know I got around, but it just seems like they made it sound like I was the biggest whore in school and I know I wasn't, 'cause I was only the second biggest whore in school, and I don't want to be viewed as a whore for the rest of my life, especially when I have babies that have to go to that school and hear the rumors about their mom, who was the second biggest whore in school, and if you really, really think about that, that's still really, really bad 'cause I mean, who the hell wants to be in any place of the biggest whore in school?" she said quickly.

Ryan was quiet for a few seconds. "…I don't know what to say to that."

"Don't say anything about it."

Sharpay listened for a few seconds, and she scoffed when he stayed silent. "Well, say something!"

"You just told me not to!"

"About me being a whore, but not just be quiet!"

"Okay, fine, I'm sorry! Jeez… Calm down."

Sharpay sniffled and she stared at her pink painted toenails for a few seconds. "…Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you come home?" she whispered.

Ryan stayed quiet. "…What do you mean?"

"Back to Albuquerque… Please? I miss you… Sometimes I just sit around and cry for no reason and knowing that you're not here to cheer me up just makes me cry even more…"

"Shar… I am home…"

Her voice cracked. "But…"

"Sharpay, I have a wife and a baby… And a job. Shar, I can't just leave all of that."

"I didn't say you had to! Bring them with you! Just please come home… I need you, Ry…"

"You've done great all this time without me. Why is right now so different?"

"You're my big brother. You're supposed to be here so I can cry on your shoulder."

"And you can do that."

"No I can't, you aren't here."

"But, I'm only a phone call away, Shar. I'll always be here for you. I promise."

"It's not the same if you aren't here!" she snapped.

Ryan sighed. "I don't know what else to tell you, Sharpay…"

"Don't say anything. I never wanna hear from you again if you're going to be a dick."

"I'm not, Sharpay. You're overreacting. You're asking me to move my family away from the only place they've ever known, and to leave my job."

"You and Kelsi are from Albuquerque! Sharla's a damn baby, she's not going to know the difference, and you can get a new fucking job out here!"

"I'm sorry, Sharpay. I can't do that."

"Fuck you!" Sharpay snapped before closing her phone and letting it drop to the porch.

"Whoa. Who pissed you off?" Gabriella asked, walking up the sidewalk.

"Everyone. Peyton. Ryan. Chad. You."

Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "Me? What did I do? If this is over letting Zander hold the snake at the zoo, I told you a million times that I'm sorry," she said, sitting next to Sharpay.

"No. That's not what it's about. Peyton told me that Chad told him that I slept around in high school, and you told him the same thing. Why would you do that?"

Gabriella shook her head quickly. "No, no, no. I said what I heard in high school what that you slept around, but that I didn't know if that was the truth or not, so I wasn't going to say that's what you were really all about. I told Peyton that I didn't know you well enough in high school to judge you, so I didn't say anything more about it. If anything, I defended you."

"Some defense."

"I did the best I could. Chad's the one that told him to begin with. Take that up with him. I don't know why he'd lie about something like that about his best friend, though."

"He didn't lie about it, but that doesn't mean I want everyone to know that I was a whore."

"Some people think you still are."

"Why would they think that?"

"Because they think you're incapable of changing. They still think of you as the pink obsessed, pushy, obnoxious, arrogant, annoying, bitchy–"

"You can stop at any time."

"…Drama queen. I'm done."

"Was your point to insult me?"

"No. It's just that when people see you, they automatically think those things of you, because that's what you portrayed in high school. I don't think you were a slut. But, you sure as hell acted and seemed like one. Making out with random guys in the hallway. Getting caught having sex in the gym, the supply closet, the bathroom, homeroom, the science room, the auditorium, the roof."

"They were all the same guy!" Sharpay snapped. "It wasn't just different guys when I was having sex, it was the same guy! That's what people don't see! They think that because it happened in different places, that it was different guys!"

"I know it was all the same guy."

"How did you know?"

"Because I knew from the start that it was Troy you were sleeping with."

Sharpay stayed quiet for a few seconds and she looked at Gabriella. "…I didn't do anything to convince him. I didn't play any tricks. He did it all on his own."

Gabriella nodded. "I know. It's fine. I'm over it. I have been. I knew he loved you. You were best friends. You had all of your firsts together, and even though that bothered me, I didn't let it get to me. I know what it's like to have a best friend. I understood."

"Really? You weren't mad?"

"I was beyond mad. I was pissed off. But, only because he didn't have the decency to tell me. He was cheating on me. But I admired the love you shared. I was kind of jealous, to be honest."

Sharpay raised an eyebrow. "Jealous? Of me? Why?"

"You had the dream guy. I thought he was in love with me, but when I found out you were sleeping together, I realized that he only loved me. He was in love with you."

"But, you had Zander together. You got married. You're still married."

"Only because we can't get divorced. I'm widowed, it's hard to get divorced when he can't sign the papers."

"But, still. You did get married and you had a baby together. How can he not have been in love with you?"

"I kind of forced him into having Zander. He didn't want kids. Not at that point. I told him that if we couldn't have a baby, then I was going to tell his parents that he was dropping out of school."

"He was dropping out? Why?"

"He wasn't happy. I think most of it was because of me. I was pretty controlling. We weren't as happy as you think we were."

"But, you guys were so happy when you came over that first day…"

Gabriella shook her head. "It was an act. We were in a really bad fight when we pulled up."

"I thought I was a good actress…"

"You're an amazing actress. I know you fake it."

Sharpay crinkled her brow.

"You get overwhelmed with the kids but you don't let it show," Gabriella explained. "You always have a smile on your face. And I know Zander's a little heathen most of the time."

"He doesn't get too bad."

"You were crying last week because he wouldn't take a nap."

"Because I needed a nap. I was exhausted. Tyler was sick."

"You could have made Peyton take care of him."

"I had to nurse him most of the time."

Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "…You had to nurse Peyton?"

Sharpay stared at Gabriella for a few seconds. "Tyler. I had to nurse Tyler most of the time."

"Ah, gotcha…"

"Are you okay?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"It just seems like something's bothering you."

"There's a lot bothering me."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Probably not."

"Hit me."

"…What?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "What's wrong? What's going on, what problems are you having?"

"Oh… It's nothing really, just… I'm tired of my mom. She's controlling. It's like I'm a little kid again."

"Oh. Well, tell her you're an adult and you need to be treated like one."

"I've tried that."

"You didn't do it right, then. I now how you are, Gabriella. You don't use enough force."

"If I use too much force, I get my ass kicked out and I have no where to go."

Sharpay nodded. "There's something else bothering you. What's going on, Montez?"

"Montez? You haven't called me that since high school."

"Pretend we're back in high school, then. Spill it. You did something."

Gabriella stayed quiet for a few seconds, looking at her lap. "…I had a one night stand."

Sharpay laughed. "That's it? That's what'd got you acting so weird? Come on, Gabriella, that's nothing."

"It is when that one night stand gets you pregnant…"

Sharpay's laughing ceased and she looked at Gabriella for a few seconds. "…Gabriella, you gave up your own son because you felt you weren't doing your job as a mother, and you get yourself pregnant a second time, just to go through the same thing over again?"

"I didn't plan on getting pregnant, Sharpay."

"Maybe you should have use a little magic penis glove called a condom."

"Like you're one to talk."

"I've used a condom every time I have sex, except when I got pregnant with the twins… Or if we're in the shower."

"Okay, you don't have to give me secretive details about your sex life."

Sharpay sighed lightly. "What are you gonna do with this baby? If you even think about pulling the dumb ass stunt you and Troy tried, I'll kill you myself. That baby deserves a mother than loves it. You need to step up and be that mother. You already messed that up with Zander. Don't do it to this one. It'll need you just as much as you'll need it. This is your chance to start all over again. Don't fuck it up."

"How do I do it without messing up? I'm terrified that I'm going to end up doing it again, no matter how many times I tell myself I won't."

Sharpay stayed silent, before looking at Gabriella with a small smile. "Baby steps, Montez. Baby steps."


End file.
